Expanded Petty Gods: Finish Line In Sight!

So here's the short-and-skinny...

All art is done minus 2 spaces (in progress).

Artists Index is done (but will be updated to reflect the final 2 pieces above; obviously, one of those two is the illustration at the end of the Artists Index).

The book has been proofed in its entirety once. The 2nd proof of the 1st half is almost complete, and hope to have the other half within a week or so.

I am doing my absolute best to release this sometime next weekend (the weekend of the 15th), at least as a PDF, with the print books available the week after that.

I need two volunteers at this point: 1) a person to double-check all the credits in the book (that is, make sure every person is accounted for in the appropriate index, and that each page number is there and correct for each credit), and 2) another person to add the PDF bookmarks and internal crosslinks. The PDF bookmarks/links do not need to be ready when the PDF releases, and can be added later. This is one of the reasons I will be releasing this through OBS... so that when those are added, everybody can be alerted about the updated version. (If this were just a "loose" download off the internet from MediaFire or something, it would be difficult to let downloaders know that updates have been made and that a new version is available.)

Petty Gods Artists Index Question...

So I'm getting close to making the index for the artists, similar to the writers index you've already seen. So here's the question... For those instances where the artists name appears on one page, but his/her illustration appears on a different page, should the index list the page where the credit appears? Or the page where the actual illustration appears? [As an example, see the two pages below. The credit for the illustration for Mephassuros appears on page 107, but the illustration appears on page 108. Should the page number in the writers index show 107 or 108? Putting both is not an option.]

A-to-Z Blogging Challenge Post #3: The Blinding of the Second-Born

DISCLAIMER/OVERVIEW: So, I'm kind of cheating for this year's A-to-Z blogging challenge, and I'm having others write it for me (minus a couple of days which I'll write myself). I'm having various writers from Expanded Petty Gods write feasts/holidays that celebrate/honor/involve a god penned by that person. Unfortunately, the posts will be sporadic and completely out of order; the idea came to me late, I've been really slammed with work lately, and I'm dealing with contributions (which is why this is actually post #3, on day #7, for letter #3). Whether I get caught up, get enough contributions and write enough entries to actually complete this challenge remains to be seen.

My goal at the end of the month is to collect these feast days into a free PDF that will supplement Expanded Petty Gods. If it's long enough, and if I can get some illustrations for them, I'll also consider putting out an "at cost" print edition as well.

Today's post comes from Matthew Schmeer who, in deference to his hiatus from blogging, has penned this feast in honor of Curdle, the petty goddess of blind milk maids. I will reserve my judgement on the twisted things that Matthew has been writing lately, instead allowing others to comment for themselves.

---

The Blinding of the Second-Born
BY MATTHEW W. SCHMEER
God Honored: Curdle, the Petty Goddess of Blind Milk Maids

It is common practice in many villages that the oldest daughter is given in marriage but the second daughter is given to the gods. In isolated farms that still venerate Curdle, the petty goddess of blind milk maids, the second-born female is offered in oblation to the goddess.

Once the child is born and her sex revealed, the child is allowed to suck from its mother's breast just once before a midwife removes the child's eyes with a blessed jagged-edged spoon made from the bone of a mule mare. The midwife then chews a handful of swamp milkweed seeds into a paste and applies this salve to the child's wounds, where it must remain for three days until the flesh begins to heal. During this time, the child may not drink of its mother's milk but only that of a wet nurse.

The newborn's eyes are then added to fresh curd, pressed into a cheese, and the cheese allowed to set and age until a cow is with calf or a goat with kid. In the final weeks of the beast's gravidity, it is fed the eye-cheese so that the child's sight might pass to the calf or kid.

If the newborn calf or kid is female, the daughter will be given in service to Curdle herself; if the beast is male, the child will be pledged to Cowie, Curdle's symbiote.

After the beast has been allowed to live for three days, it is slaughtered in a solemn ceremony attended by the entire family. The animal is trussed in a white gunnysack with only its head unveiled and placed on a wooden altar built for ritual slaughter. Using a sharp dagger or short sword, the farmer quickly beheads the animal, catching as much blood from the body as possible. The farmer takes a wooden cup (hewn from the same timber as the altar) and drinks of the blood of the sacrifice; each member of the family drinks in turn. The remaining blood is taken to the family shrine and poured over or before an image of the goddess, sealing the blood oath of the family's pledge.

The animal is then disemboweled and its entrails removed. The altar is lit aflame and the sacrifice allowed to burn to ash while the family offers prayers and adulations.

The entrails are then cleaned in clear spring water and boiled to make broth that is feed to the newborn child for three days.

The animal's head is nailed above the home's doorway until nothing but the skull remains.

In this way, the second-born daughter is pledged to the Order of Amilken and will one day join the sisterhood in their home chapel. It is said that families that pledge a daughter to the goddess in this way will be blessed with fertile cows and goats which give the sweetest milk until the daughter meets her mortal end.

A-to-Z Blogging Challenge Day 6: Feast of the Fallen

DISCLAIMER/OVERVIEW: So, I'm kind of cheating for this year's A-to-Z blogging challenge, and I'm having others write it for me (minus a couple of days which I'll write myself). I'm having various writers from Expanded Petty Gods write feasts/holidays that celebrate/honor/involve a god penned by that person. Unfortunately, the posts will be sporadic and completely out of order; the idea came to me late, and I'm dealing with things as they come in (which is why this is actually post #2, on day #3, for letter #6).

My goal at the end of the month is to collect these feast days into a free PDF that will supplement Expanded Petty Gods. If it's long enough, and if I can get some illustrations for them, I'll also consider putting out an "at cost" print edition as well.

Today's post is for the feast of The Fallen One,
the petty god of fallen warriors and unsung heroes.

---

Feast of the Fallen
BY RICHARD J. LEBLANC, JR.
Association: The Fallen One

It is The Fallen One who roams the world’s battlefields, often while the smokes of war still hang over them, gathering the spirits of the fallen warriors and unsung heroes of the battle. He escorts them to his great banquet hall, and feasts with them before sending them on to their final destiny... to be forgotten by the histories of the mortal world.

The Feast of the Fallen is not an occasion observed by mortals, for if it were, the fallen warriors would not be forgotten, and The Fallen One would cease to exist. Rather, the Feast of the Fallen is a millennial celebration hosted by The Fallen One.

On the night of the feast, the banquet hall of The Fallen One grows magically longer so that every forgotten warrior (from the whole of history) has a seat at his table. The warriors gather together, coming far and wide from the forgotten places upon the planes where their souls reside, and The Fallen One toasts them. He then disperses their spirits to the Material Plane to roam the battlefields where each of them died.

Once on the battlefield, the spirit of a fallen warrior has the chance to make contact with a resident of the Material Plane, tell his or her story, and try to ensure that this or her name will be remembered (e.g., written down). Should the spirit of a fallen warrior do so successfully, The Fallen One will cry a single tear of simultaneous joy and sorrow for that warrior, and release the warrior from his ranks. That warrior may then take up a more proper residence (that is, a residence in a place of remembrance) in the upper or lower planes (depending on the warrior's alignment).

At dawn of the next day, those warriors who remain unremembered return to their forgotten places upon the planes, waiting 1,000 years for the next Feast of the Fallen.

A-to-Z Blogging Challenge Day 1: Atanuwe's Feast Day

DISCLAIMER/OVERVIEW: So, I'm kind of cheating for this year's A-to-Z blogging challenge, and I'm having others write it for me (minus a couple of days which I'll write myself). I'm having various writers from Expanded Petty Gods write feasts/holidays that celebrate/honor/involve a god penned by that person. Well, except today, because I goofed and asked Matthew Schmeer to write one for Atanuwe, which was penned by Greg Gorgonmilk (please forgive me guys; not sure how I did that, though I think it's because Matthew wrote so much Jale God stuff, including the atacorns, that I just blanked on the fact that Greg penned Atanuwe).

My goal at the end of the month is to collect these feast days into a free PDF that will supplement Expanded Petty Gods. If it's long enough, and if I can get some illustrations for them, I'll also consider putting out an "at cost" print edition as well.

Today's post is for the feast of Atanuwe,
the nine-legged unicorn petty god of unicorns and death magic.

---

Feast of the Nine-legged Naglion
BY MATTHEW W. SCHMEER
God Honored: Atanuwe

In celebration of the Jale God's Unicorning victory, once every three years, the 17 atacorns and their ancient witch-mothers gather in a fell forest to proclaim the greatness of Atanuwe through an unspeakable incestuous orgy of unbridled foul and grotesque display. Unspeakable rituals and sacrifices are performed, including some whispered to be practiced beyond the sphere of men on the plains of dread Carcosa.

What is known of the true rites and rituals is only rumor. Yet there exists a small parchment from the library of the mage Ur-mu Ab'rkada that hints at the vile celebrations. He writes that many goats and lambs are rent asunder and their carcases made foul in orgiastic display; many a kestrel is slaughtered and its liver examined and prophesies made; many a slave is tortured for the pleasantness of his keening; many a freeman is pressed into services most debasing; and many a virgin is vivisectioned, their organs seasoned and baked into loaves of malted oat bread devoured at the nightly feasts.

For three days and three nights, he writes, cruelty reigns the forest floor. Sibling lay with each other and their witch-mothers as slaves salve their wounds. Horrified freeman are forced into deadly embraces and yet the celebrations do not cease, their corpses maligned by malignant coition until all are spent. All this is done in hope that Atanuwe may deign to arrive and cavort with his offspring once again.

When dawn rises on the fourth day, the slaves are blinded and their tongues cut from their mouths, the first knuckle of each finger, thumb, and toe removed with a silvered blade. These are then roasted over an open flame, and devoured by the witch-mothers in silence before they retreat back into their forest abodes and the atacorns once again take up their trades on the outskirts and underbellies of the cities of man.

Ab'rkada says that there are few mortal survivors of the festival, for only the offspring of Atanuwe and the atacorns may attend and their numbers are small and growing smaller, as the seed of the atacorns has not spread for several generations.

It's time for Expanded Petty Gods Prooofreading

Gather ye, oh minions of the petty gods of grammar and spelling,
for now is the time to lend your eyes!

IMPORTANT!!! DO NOT VOLUNTEER IN THE COMMENTS SECTION OF THIS POST!!!
PLEASE EMAIL THE ADDRESS NOTED BELOW!!! (I will not be following up with volunteers who do not email me as instructed.)

You must know how to use sticky notes in PDFs
(and if you haven't used them before, it's time you learn).

This book will consistently use the American spellings of things (e.g., "armor" instead of "armour", "traveler" instead of "traveller", etc.). You must feel comfortable enough to catch these on your own, or you will need to know how to change your dictionary for spell-checking.

Email pgcopy(at)newbigdragon(dot)com, with a short review of what qualifies you to help proof this beast (list relevant experience or other titles you've helped proof). Also, let me know how many pages you reasonably expect to proof during a single week (7 days).

You may leave questions below. You must email to volunteer.

Expanded Petty Gods: Preview of Back Cover Illustration

Now that I've had a chance to make sure it looks as good on the printed book as I hoped it might, I can reveal the back cover illustration for Expanded Petty Gods. It's "collage" of sorts that I created by retouching elements from a variety of Nicholas Roerich paintings, and combining them with a starry background that I "painted" in Photoshop. (I actually did the background when I was still testing that loaner Wacom Bamboo tablet a couple of months back.) I tried to pull colors that would hold it together with Thomas Denmark's front cover illustration, and the orange spine and type elements. I was actually pretty blown away by how well it held up when I got the "pre-pre-preview" print from Lulu.com on Friday. I also like how it seems to allude to the original Erol Otus back cover for Deities & Demigods, and acts as a nice visual contrast to the front cover (open/sky/mountains vs. intimate/temple/jungle) while still feeling they work together.

Yet Another Expanded Petty Gods Update

Have a ton to do today so I'll make this short and sweet.

All copy is complete, minus the artists index!!!
I finished writing all the section intros and accompanying explanatory notes. I still would like to make a general content edit pass before I start doling out proofreading work, and I need to make the style sheet they'll use to check against, but this feels like a MAJOR accomplishment. It not only means all copy is complete, it also means that I now know every specific arthole there is to be filled.

I ordered a test print copy from Lulu.com last night.
There were still a couple of copy holes in the version I sent off (which I filled this morning). And there are still a few dozen "black boxes" acting as placeholders for final art pieces. But I did put the cover together, including a potential back cover. I want to see how it prints before I reveal it. (I'm not sure it works with the front cover, but it's hard to know until I see it "in hand").

There are less than 20 god/minion illustrations left to complete.
That's the good news. The bad news is, between the Divine Items, Spells, and Appendix art needs, there are still like 50 total illustrations that need to be done (including the gods/minions). I've created a list for this, so I know exactly what needs to happen, but I need some time this weekend to assess the list and put plans in place for getting this taken care of.

Another Expanded Petty Gods Update

Things keep trucking along with final elements. As I mentioned over the past week, I've completed the gods index and the writers index.

The other big step last week was getting the stats edit from Matthew Skail. Mostly, that just means he filled in a LOT of "TBDs" (particularly for Hoard Classes and Experience Points) throughout the book, and he called "BS" on a few additional XP stats. I know this was a daunting task, and his assistance was invaluable. That means all of the TBDs have now been filled in, except for some artist credits for some as-yet-undone art pieces.

Over the weekend, I started to work on the content for the intro/overview/explanatory notes page that begins each major section. I completed the "Minions" and "Spells" intro pages, I have an outline completed for the "Divine Items" intro page, and I have some reference notes for the Cults intro page. I'm hoping by the end of the week I'll be able to finish these pages. I'm also hoping to make a general edit pass of the book to tweak style issues and edit a few specific entries with the goal of releasing parts of the book to proofreaders next week. (I will be reaching out this week to those folks who've volunteered their services, in order to check on availability, etc.).

There will also be an "Appendix N." The list of authors/works referenced specifically inside the book is about 2/3 done, and Greg Gorgonmilk and Matthew Schmeer are working on helping me finish this out, as well working to create the "Inspirational Reading" list.

Things are moving, people. Things are moving!

Expanded Petty Gods: Alphabetical Index of Gods

Ultimately, I had hoped to build an alphabetical index of domains by which the gods could be referred. However, I realized how nearly impossible that task could be (possibly taking longer than laying out the whole book, if you can believe that). For example, for Erik Tenkar's Pandantilus, Lord of the Privy and Patron of Gong Farmers and Muck Rackers, I suppose I could create entries for "privy," "gong farmers," and "muck rakers," but that doesn't even begin to help DM's who might be looking for "feces" or something similar. Hell, even "gong farmer" can be "gongfermor," "gongfermour," "gong-fayer," "gong-fower" or even "gong scourer." Also, since the domain of so many of the petty gods are quite inclusive, building an exhaustive list would require re-reading each of the 315+ petty gods entries, adding a who-knows-how-long list of associated words, and trying to build the index from that. This is why building an alphabetical index by topic that would be truly useful seems to be near impossible (from my POV).

So I've made an executive decision. I've laid the index out alphabetically, with the gods' names, domains (as listed in each entry's header), alignment, affiliations (pantheons/cults), and page number. The entire section is 9 pages long. I think that's short enough for DM's to peruse in a few minutes and find a petty god that may fit their needs, but complete enough to actually be useful.

Even building this index still took several hours. Imagine how long it would have taken to build the other one.

Expanded Petty Gods Writer's Index is done!

It took me about three hours this evening, but I finished the writer's index for Expanded Petty Gods. I definitely think the work was worth it.

One of the things I did when I rebuilt the spreadsheets at the inauguration of my leg of this project, was to split out the last names and first names for all writers and artists, with this absolute goal in mind... being able to alphabetize by last name. Once all the art is completed for the book, I'll do the same thing for the artists.

So tonight, I had to finish adding the page numbers (from the layout) to the Excel spreadsheets I've been using to manage each section of the project. Then I took just the columns for page number, writer's last name, and writer's first name from each of the master Excel files, and kept adding those to a single new Excel file. Then, in that composite Excel file, I ordered the columns: 1) last name, 2) first name, 3) page number. After that, I sorted them in that same order (ascending by Column A, then Column B, then Column C). Doing that also showed any inconsistencies in how a single person's name might appear. This allowed me to proof and edit the names (not just in the index, but double-checking them in the layout as well). From there it was just a lot of selecting boxes and "clearing contents" in Excel, followed by some "find/replace" in TextEdit, to create the final text file I imported into the layout. Ironically, the actual typesetting of the 2 pages took about 10 minutes. It was the three hours of prep-work that took all the time.

Expanded Petty Gods Update

I don't have much time, so I'll keep this short and sweet.

Recap: Copy layout for the entire book has been done for a week or so (minus the explanatory notes for each section). Matthew Skail is working on the stats editing, but it ended up being a bit more cumbersome than I originally anticipated, so I've given him a bit more time. (That means sending things out for copy styles proofing may not happen until mid-to-late next week.)

Art from the title page through the introduction is complete.

Art for the "Petty Gods" section is complete through the M's (minus a couple of small column filler illustrations).

There are still a handful of illustrations to be completed for the rest of the "Petty Gods" section and the "Minions" section.

Art for the "Cults" section is complete.

There are a handful of spot illustration spaces for the "Divine Items" and "Spells" sections, and only 1 space in the Appendix. I'm not going to worry about these until the rest of the artholes are filled.

Expanded Petty Gods "Stats Editor" Need:

Thanks to Matthew Skail for taking this on! Based on the input he's been giving me for the Basic Psionics Handbook, I know he'll do a bang-up job on it.

I need somebody (a single person) who feels like they have a pretty good mastery of Labyrinth Lord (or BX D&D) from a stats point of view. I need that person (who will get a supporting editor credit in the book) to go through the layout and add the missing stats. This will mostly be:
– XP for some gods/minions (most of them have this stat, but maybe 5-10% don't)
– alignments, saving throws and XP for divine (magic) items (there are about 2-3 dozen entries that need these)
– other missing stats here and there

There will be a separate round for content edits/proofing later (to be handled by a different person or persons). This is specifically a "fill-in-the-missing-stats" need. This person will NOT need to go back through the other stats to check/correct them. They will just need to perform a search for each "TBD" that appears in the book, review the related entry, then tag the "TBD" with a comment/note with the missing information (based on the description).

I would prefer somebody who's already familiar with adding comments to a PDF (though the learning curve on this is next to nothing), but my bigger concern is that the person feel really comfortable committing LL/BX stats to the missing items.

I'm not sure how many hours this will take (guessing as few as 2 or 3, but as many as 7 or 8), but I'd love to have the marked up version back by the middle of next week, so I can update the file with the notes and get it out for the next round of proofing next weekend.

Anybody interested, please email pgcopy(at)newbigdragon(dot)com with the subject line "Stat Editor?" And I'll go from there.

IF YOU COMMENT BELOW TO VOLUNTEER, I WILL STILL ASK YOU TO EMAIL ME AT THE ADDRESS ABOVE. (It is very difficult to track this kind of thing through a comment chain; thanks for understanding.)

Expanded Petty Gods Update

Don't have a ton of time for this (busy work day, even for a holiday). I'll be brief, but I wanted to share progress.

Apart from the indexes, THE ENTIRE BOOK IS LAID OUT!!! It clocks in at 384 PAGES!!! (not including the indexes, will will have to be the absolutely last thing added to the book). There are plenty of artholes left to be filled, there is still a bit of content missing on the "Minions" and "Cults" sections, and there is some tweaking to be done to the "Spells" section... but that's it!!!

Artwork is continuing to ooze in... and the latest submissions are killer! (I will try to do a post in the next couple of days showing off some of the newer submissions.)

If I can keep the art needs on track, I'm still aiming for release by the end of February. (Those who are waiting, keep your fingers crossed. Those who are slated for art contributions, keep those pens/styluses busy... and THANK YOU!)

Expanded Petty Gods: Call for Spells (due 1/15/15!)

VERY IMPORTANT!!! The Gods, Minions, and Divine Items sections of the book are COMPLETELY CLOSED FOR NEW CONTENT! If you add a spell, please do not add a minion, god, or divine item!!! Thanks for understanding.

Got spells?

Do you have any god-related spells? Or do you have any ideas for god-related spells.

Or spells for clerics (or magic-user followers) of certain types of petty gods?

If you wrote a god (or gods) for the Petty Gods book, why not write a spell associated with that god? 

Feel free to post spells in the comments section below (but be sure to inclulde your name as you'd like your credit to appear).

OR SEND SPELLS TO: pgcopy(at)newbigdragon(dot)com

Deadline is this Thursday, January 15th (I'll cull Friday a.m., first thing)

In the format below, the "Affiliations" can be VERY loose (e.g., petty gods of molds and fungi, petty gods of vegetation, petty gods that use battle axes, petty gods related to books/scribes/writing instruments, etc.) or specific (e.g., Morbiphalligus, petty god of venereal diseases and sexual afflicitons — yes, I wrote that god myself!).

FORMAT TO FOLLOW (BX/Labyrinth Lord):

Name of Spell 

Affiliations: Name of Petty God, Pantheon, Minion and/or Cult

Level: # Class

Range: Touch (or) #'

Duration: # rounds (or) # turns

Put any saving throw information, total HD effected, total creatures effected, etc. in the body description (use BX or LL as your "go by" for this). Do not include in range/duration above.

SOME OF MY SPELLS FOR EXPANDED PETTY GODS:

Animate Fallen Warrior

Affiliation: The Fallen One, petty god of fallen warriors

Level: 5 Magic-user

Range: 60'

Duration: 1 turn

Similar to the spell animate dead, this spell animates a number of recently deceased warriors (who died within the last turn). The number of warriors that may be animated is equal to the level of the spellcaster plus 1d6. Each animated warrior fights and saves as a 1 HD monster (with 1d8 hp). Like all undead, animated warriors are immune to sleep, charm, and hold, but are susceptible to the effects of turning. They will remain animated until all of their hp are lost, or until 1 turn has passed (whichever comes first). This spell may only be used on any fallen warrior once, after which they will immediately be taken up by The Fallen One.

Related Entries: G) Fallen One.

Locate Jade

Affiliation: Jaiden, petty goddess of jade

Level: 1 Cleric/Magic-user

Range: 60' + 10'/level

Duration: 6 turns

As the spell locate object, but only locates the presence of jade. The duration and range are doubled for clerics dedicated to the petty goddes Jaiden. The spell does not work through lead.

Related Entries: G) Jaiden.

Touch of Morbiphalligus

Affiliation: Morbiphalligus, petty god of venereal diseases and sexual afflictions

Level: 3 Cleric

Range: Touch

Duration: Indefinite

On a successful “to hit” roll, this spell infects the target with an extreme form of venereal disease (no saving throw). The effects of the touch are determined by the level of the spellcaster as outlined below:

[effects table to come]

This spell may be counteracted by remove curse or cure disease. If cast by clerics dedicated to the petty god Morbiphalligus, all saving throws are made with a -2 penalty.

Related Entries: G) Morbiphalligus.

Pallid Veil

Affiliations: The Yellow King, petty god of the madness that comes with old age

Level: 1 Cleric/2 Magic-user

Range: Touch

Duration: 6 turns

The target  of this spell is made to appear 5 years younger per level of the spellcaster (though they are not actually physically aged). It is used mainly by the elder members of the Pallid Conclave to appear younger, and thereby enable them move infiltrate groups of younger people, helping the cult to more easily spread the chaos and madness of the Yellow King. Reluctant victims are allowed a save vs. spell.

Related Entries: G) Yellow King; C) Pallid Conclave.

Jaundice Veil

Affiliations: The Yellow King, petty god of the madness that comes with old age

Level: 5 Cleric/Magic-user

Range: 240'

Duration: See below

The target of this spell succumbs to two different effects: first, they are made to appear 10 years older per level of the spellcaster (though they are not physically made older); second, they are affected as by a feeblemind spell. Separate saving throws must be made for each effect. To avoid the effects of the aging, the victim must make a successful save vs. paralysis. To avoid the effects of the feeblemind, the victim must make a successful save vs. spell at -3. The aging effects last for a number of days equal to the level of the spellcaster. The duration of the feeblemind effects will remain until counteracted by dispel magic.

Expanded Petty Gods Update

I'd like to begin by apologizing for not posting Expanded Petty Gods updates more often. I know that's one area where Greg Gorgonmilk was particularly good (sharing ongoing contributions, etc.) where I have maybe not been so good. But things are chugging along nonetheless.

CONTENT
As mentioned several days ago, the open collection of content is essentially closed for the "Petty Gods" and "Minions" sections. At this point, a few folks are working on some "filler" gods and minions to assist the layout with page breaks, etc. I've also received all the outstanding cult entries. (Right now, there are 10 cults; I think for the section to feel nice and full, that number should be 15, so I may do a couple of "cult speed rounds" next week.)

ROUGH LAYOUT
I've moved into the layout of the Appendices of the book (with the Spells section to follow). The Petty Gods, Minions, Divine Items, and Cults sections are essentially laid out. With the appendices that have been laid out so far, the total page count stands at about 335 pages. I imagine the Spells section will take about 10-15 pages, and the remaining Appendixes will take about 20-30. So by the time the indexes are added to everything else, the total page count will likely be right around 400 pages (as I've suspected for a while).

ART NEEDS
Wednesday's call for artists seemed to work. While there are still 50+ god illustrations that need to be assigned, the minions art need was CUT IN HALF! There are now less than 15 minion illustrations left to assign!!! (Woo-hooh!) Thanks to all who stepped up the challenge (né guilt trip). I still feel like this may be the biggest stumbling block on the path to getting the final version published. The holiday break has given several artists the chance to catch up on art assignments that have been hanging, and given new/additional artists the opportunity to crank out an illustration or two. But the world will go back to its normal schedule next week, so we'll see how it goes.

A NOTE TO CONTRIBUTORS
Feel free to share the things you've been creating for Expanded Petty Gods (art, text, whatever). With so much content coming in and getting into the layout over the last few weeks, its been hard for me to choose who/what to feature fairly. There are so many great things coming in, and so little time to blog them (e.g., in the last week alone, I got four great cults!). This is that area where I mentioned Greg was much better about it than me. So for now, I'll stay "asses and elbows" on keeping this train moving, and trust that the contributors will fly the EPG banner as they share to their blogs and Google+ pages the wonderful things they've been contributing.

This is me... begging for art... for Expanded Petty Gods.

Now that the base layout for the "petty gods" and "minions" sections of Expanded Petty Gods is done, I'm going to beg profusely to the OSR community for art help. (This is a community project and I am seeking donated contributions.)

There are currently 60+ gods entries and 30+ minions entries that have not yet been assigned to artists (in addition to the 2 dozen things which are currently assigned and still in-progress).

New to Expanded Petty Gods? Check out these links:
- Original Petty Gods
– Expanded Petty Gods

If by some stroke of luck I could get 90 volunteers to each contribute 1 piece of grayscale or line art (or 45 artists to each contribute 2 pieces, or 30 to contribute 3 pieces) in the next couple of weeks, then 97% of the art for the entire Expanded Petty Gods book would be complete (and the book would be weeks away from being complete)! [All interior art for this book is B&W/grayscale.]

I do have a list of art needs, which are mostly single-figure images (but see below). As artists volunteer their services, I'm asking their preferences as to content type (e.g., odd/weird, dark or humorous, no females, prefer animals, etc.), then I'm going through the needs list with an editor's eye on tone of entry vs. artist's prefs, then throwing out 3 or 4 possibilities, and the artist can choose from those (or pass, if they prefer). Generally, unless I describe the image need otherwise in the offerings, the format for each piece is an individual w/out a background (this allows me to make the image as large as possible in the limited space the layout offers; putting backgrounds on these figures severely limits how large I can make them). Additionally, I'm trying to keep these on 2-week turnaround before considering re-assigning them. I know people have other jobs and/or commissions, but I also know that this stage is the pitfall that could force this project into eternal 'languishment'.

If you have existing illustrations that could be used as a minion, I'll consider accepting those. These are being used as "filler" to assist page breaks, so there are limitations as to what this kind of minion will be named, and how long the copy for that minion will be (at editor's discretion).

The only other "open" submissions I'm taking right now are cult images. (You can provide any input you want for the cult image you provide, even going as far as to write it up, or you can just send a pic and I'll find a writer to create a cult around the image.)

Anyone kind enough to offer up their talents for this daunting project can email pgart(at)newbigdragon(dot)com with their preferences and links to samples (as a reference for what fits your personal style).

This is a great opportunity for people who are trying out new styles or working on spec stuff for themselves as experiments. (E.g., I noticed Jez Gordon was trying to find a new personal style that wouldn't be so labor/time/computer-intensive; this is a great opportunity for everyone to try something out for themselves while simultaneously contributing to a community project.) This is also a great opportunity for people who are trying to expand their profiles as artists and illustrators (e.g., many of you may know Josephe Vandel as a kick-ass map-maker, but the image above is his illustration (and a very cool one, at that).

Any writers that have contributed to this project who would prefer their entry not appear with a blank space next to it, please add your begs and pleads in the comments section below. [Cue Sarah McLachlan music along with pictures of writers in cages, staring up at the camera with puppy-dog eyes.]

Petty Gods "Call for Cults"(DUE BY MIDNIGHT THIS FRIDAY, JANUARY 2ND!)

Have you written a cult that you'd like to see included in Expanded Petty Gods? Send the text by Friday, January 2 to cults(at)newbigdragon(dot)com. If you have not written a cult, do not tell me you'd like to write a cult or that you have an idea for a cult. Only email me if you have a completely written cult for inclusion. If I do not receive it by Saturday morning (January 3) when I check my email, it will NOT be included.

PLEASE NOTE: IF YOU SHARE THE EMAIL ADDRESS ABOVE, PLEASE POST IT AS IT APPEARS AND DO NOT ADD A "mailto:" LINK! The robots are awful about scouring blogs for email addresses and sending spam.

There's no real format for what a cult listing does/doesn't include (or the order in which it is presented). Generally, the cult entries have an overview of the god(s) (or lack of deity) the cult worships, the organization and practices of the cult members, and there are usually stats for key personnel (treated as monster encounter listings... e.g., stats for priests of various levels, stats for initiates, etc.), and sometimes the addition of new spells and/or magic items (spells and magic items will be moved to a different part of the book, so treat them as separate listings, but within the same document; stats for cult members will stay with listing so feel free to work them in as you see fit).

Petty Gods "Minions Lightning Round" BONUS EDITION!

****** ENTRIES CLOSED ******

VERY IMPORTANT! THIS IS A LIGHTNING ROUND! I WILL ONLY ACCEPT THE FIRST FIVE SUBMISSIONS THAT ARE SENT TO ME (VIA EMAIL NOTED BELOW)! I WILL UPDATE THIS POST TO ANNOUNCE WHEN SUBMISSIONS HAVE BEEN CLOSED.

BTW, There's no need to claim this image or claim a spot. The order in which I receive the emails will stake your claim!

General Description: I got some really great entries the other day for a particular image (the image at left that I re-inked from the Byam Shaw original). So I decided to include all of the various entries in Expanded Petty Gods under the same image. The challenge today... write your own entry for the same image!

Use the Lab Lord format for entries as described in the previous Minions/Knights/Servitors post.

Send your descriptions in .rtf, .txt, .doc or .docx format only. DO NOT SEND PDFs!!!
Mail your entry to: pgcopy(at)newbigdragon(dot)com

IMPORTANT: IF YOU HAVEN'T PREVIOUSLY SUBMITTED FOR "PETTY GODS" PUBLICATION, INCLUDE YOUR NAME AS YOU'D LIKE YOUR CREDIT TO APPEAR WITH YOUR ENTRY!

CONTINUED RULE FOR THIS ROUND: The minion you write up has to serve a certain type or kind of petty god (e.g., a petty god with a particular domain, a petty god of a certain race, etc.), rather than serving a particular petty god.

BTW, if you've submitted an entry before for this image, you're quite welcome to submit another, but please give it a new name.

Final Petty Gods "Minions Speed Round" Challenge

VERY IMPORTANT! PLEASE DO NOT WORK ON A WRITE-UP UNLESS YOU FIRST CLAIM IT HERE (VIA COMMENTS), AND I OFFICIALLY ACKNOWLEDGE YOU AS THE CLAIMANT!

REVISED RULE FOR THIS ROUND: The minion you write up has to serve a certain type or kind of petty god (e.g., a petty god with a particular domain, a petty god of a certain race, etc.), rather than serving a particular petty god.

TIME CUTOFFS FOR THIS CHALLENGE....
GMT+1 (Sweden/Germany) - Tuesday, December 16, 7:00 a.m.
United Kingdom, Greenwich Mean Time - Tuesday, December 16, 10:00 a.m.
United States, Easter Time Zone - Tuesday, December 16, 3:00 a.m.
United States, Central Time Zone - Tuesday, December 16, 2:00 a.m.
United States, Mountain Time Zone - Tuesday, December 16, 1:00 a.m.
United States, Pacific Time Zone - Tuesday, December 16, 12:00 a.m. (Midnight tonight)
United States, Alaska Time Zone - Monday, December 15, 11:00 p.m.
Australian Capital Territory - Tuesday, December 16, 5:00 p.m.

Here are the rules... (UPDATED RULES; PLEASE READ)

1. The first person who claims an image via a comment below (one claim at a time per person, please) gets to write it up. (But additional claimers will be considered "Backups" per #4 below.)

2. You have to complete the write-up and email it to pgcopy(at)newbigdragon(dot)com by the time noted above (per your time zone).

3. If there's no entry in my inbox when I check email tomorrow (Tuesday) morning, I will take the entry away and give a chance to the first backup (i.e., second person who claimed an entry) and they will have approximately 12 hours from the time they claim it to complete the write-up and email it.

4. If you have already completed an entry, you are eligible to be a backup (please express that interest when making your first claim). Otherwise, you may only be working on 1 claim at a time. If you want to be considered for more than 1, please list them in order of preference.

5. Use the Lab Lord format for entries as described in the previous Minions/Knights/Servitors post.

MINIONS SPEED ROUND OPTION #1
(illustrator: Arthur Rackham)
[completed/received]

Kash-Kash
by James Spahn
The Kash-Kash is a cursed, pathetic creature who drifts across the planes of reality eager to serve a divine master as their cupbearer and court jester. Unfortunately, it is a horrible, clumsy, yowling thing that appears to be a cross between a kobold and a coyote that somehow prances about awkardly on its hind legs.

MINIONS SPEED ROUND OPTION #2
(illustrator: Anne Merriman Peck)
[completed/received]

Augenwinkel
by Christopher Stogdill
Augenwinkel are servitors to petty gods of small areas like a home or frequently used campsite. Their primary function is to serve and guides and intermediaries between the petty gods and mortals.

MINIONS SPEED ROUND OPTION #3
(illustrator: Richard Heighway)
[completed/received]

Ghostly Lecher
by Matthew W. Schmeer
The ghosts of ancient mortals who were enamored with death when they were alive, Ghostly Lechers serve the gods of death merely as
rubbernecking hangers-on. Wherever a gristly death has occurred, a Ghostly Lecher is sure to be found, feeding on the deathwave
vibrations that emanate from the corpse.

MINIONS SPEED ROUND OPTION #4
(illustrator: William H. Robinson)
[completed/received]

Arbitrator of Sphere
by Eric Potter
These wise sages are entrusted by each and every petty god to help settle disputes arising from conflicting spheres of influence. Revered for their wisdom and experience, Arbitrators have the final say should one petty god’s dominion be shown to overlap another’s.