Check out mister businessman, oh-oh-oh...

 

Cover for WILD Dream Dive Training Simulation - art by Qistina Khalidah

Been a while, but I've been busy. Sorry! And with the day-job (the NEW day-job) involving a lot of computer work, I've been trying to avoid using it when the working day is done. After all, there's only so much staring at the screen you can do without going a little bananas. 

However, I have been spending the weekends finishing off the WILD Dream Dive Training Simulation that was Kickstarted last year. Hopefully it should be heading to print sometime in the next week (fingers crossed), barring any changes or horrible mistakes I've made. If you're keen but missed the Kickstarter, click that link in this paragraph and it'll take you to the WILD website, which will let you place an order.

So what next? Outside of the day-job, I guess it's building up to another #RPGaDAY in August. Just need to decide on the prompts and the style of the graphic for this year! I still can't believe it's been going for so long.

Otherwise, I'm going to take it a bit easier. I'm still keen to write that autobiography, though maybe draw it so I can keep away from the computer in the evenings, but my art is lacking to say the least. It's been a long time since I drew comics. I need to get over myself and just go for it - be expressive and wacky, and stop worrying about making people look like who they're supposed to be.

In the dim and distant future there's always plans for WILD Book 2 - Even Deeper, looking in more depth at the Collective Unconscious. We'll see how Book 1 goes down! I still worry everyone will hate it.

Anyway, that's it. Stay safe everyone. It's still dangerous out there.

WILD Kickstarter - the Final Week

 

It's the final week of the WILD RPG Kickstarter, and I've been completely blown away by the response. Thank you, everyone, who has backed, encouraged, or shared the Kickstarter to spread the word of it far and wide. It is currently over double its intended goal, blasting past the important stretch goal to have fantastic original artwork by Gareth Sleightholme commissioned for the tarot deck, and for these cards to actually see print!!

These cards will be in the book as well, which was always an important part of the way the game works. All the rules and a reference resource for the cards all in the first book, which (once you've played through the simulation) can become effectively a 'player's handbook' as further books expand the way dreams work and delve deeper into the collective unconsciousness. These are more aimed at the DreamMaster.

The extra pages that have been unlocked in the Kickstarter are a great opportunity to explore further, and open up the game beyond the 'training dive simulation' - giving advice for the DreamMaster for how dreams work, dream stability, and what you can expect to do and experience within the dreamscapes.

With just five days to go on the Kickstarter, I'm stunned at how successful it has been, and thank you all again. I hope you enjoy it when it heads out to you in April 2021.

Until next blog post, stay safe everyone. It's crazy and scary out there, and if I had the choice I wouldn't leave the house - but the dayjob means I have to. 

Take care, stay safe, and stay multi-classy.

Coming SATURDAY 14th NOVEMBER - WILD: Training Dive Simulation

 

Mock up cover for WILD - Art by Qistina Khalidah - 3D Mock up by Will Brooks

It is just a few days away, but WILD is heading to Kickstarter. I mentioned in the previous post, that the Training Dive Simulation - a starter into the world (and dreamworlds) of WILD would be heading to Kickstarter soon, and soon it is! Saturday to be precise. 14th November 2020.

It's a bit like that bit in Monty Python and the Holy Grail - "People said we were mad to launch a Kickstarter in November" but if this year has proved anything - we still need to dream. And to have dreams of something better.

With the American Presidential Election producing such a *hopefully* positive result (c'mon man, just concede, it's embarrassing) those dreams of something better seem to be making their way into reality. And the hopes of a vaccine against this awful virus means there's a little light at the end of this horrible tunnel of a year. 

Anyway, enough rambling. WILD is coming. As I said before, it's a great introduction to the game and can be played solo, or in a group with or without a GM. And it's different every time you play. If this one is successful, I've got expansions planned that will build upon this to reveal the dreamscapes, dreams within dreams, the collective unconscious, the incursions into the waking world... Oh the plans... 

But first, we need to get this one launched and funded! If it's successful enough, there will be a dedicated WILD Tarot set to go along with it! So, even if you're not keen, or can't afford it right now, please spread the word when it launches on Saturday.

Head over to the Kickstarter page, and you can be notified the moment it launches.

And head over to WILDRPG.com for more insights as the Kickstarter (hopefully) progresses. 

Thank you everyone. Stay safe, and keep dreaming.

Coming soon to KICKSTARTER - WILD

 

It's been a few years since my last post - at least it seems like it. What a year. As I type this, millions of Americans are casting their votes, millions of Brits prepare for another lockdown to keep this virus under control, and the world seems to be going crazy.

In the middle of all this, I've been writing the new edition of Doctor Who for Cubicle 7, and my good friend Stoo Goff has decided that he's going to Kickstart WILD - my roleplaying game of dreamshare technology. The game I've been working on for the last eight or nine years... Finally... 

Yes, it's filling me with equal amounts of relief (for finally getting it out there) and terror (what if no one likes it?) But it's moving. And sooner than you think. Hopefully, all going well, the Kickstarter will launch this month. 

The Kickstarter will be for WILD - Training Dive Simulation. It's the full rules you need to play, with simple character creation. You can use these to do whatever you like with the game - however it comes with a scenario where you play as a new trainee at ClarIT, the company behind the dreamshare technology. As part of your training you get to experience the first dreamshare experiment - when the creator of the device went into the dreamstate of his comatose daughter with the hopes of waking her. 

In the narrative of the game, he failed, and was trapped in the dreamscape with her - only when his ex-wife entered the dreamrealms did Clarity wake and everyone was freed from their unconscious state.

This simulation can be played traditionally with a group and a GM (or DreamMaster), without a GM, or even solo as a journalling game. The scenario unfolds through the draw of tarot cards (as does any conflict resolution), so you can play the simulation multiple times and every one will be different. 

Of course, as the system is all in here, imaginative gamers can take those concepts and run with it - creating dreamscapes and worlds of their own.

I just hope you all like it. 

Head over to the Kickstarter page here and you can sign up to be notified the moment the Kickstarter launches. Thank you for taking a look!

Head over to www.wildrpg.com for more, and stay tuned for updates.

Above all, take care of yourselves. Stay safe. Vote if you're able.

Dream of a better future.

Relics: A Game of Angels

Over the last three weeks I've been looking at the Tarot and how it has influenced my game playing and designing over the years. This brings me handily to this week's blogpost - a review of a forthcoming Kickstarter that uses the Tarot as a game mechanic...

Relics: A Game of Angels launches on Kickstarter on the 10th April 2019

Relics: A Game of Angels really ticks some major boxes in appealing to me. First of all, it uses Tarot as a mechanic for task resolution (and other cool elements). It also is about angels, which is very cool. And also, it's written by Steve Dee who I've known from the days of playtesting Conspiracy X 2.0. Sure, I may be a little biased, but you need to see what is sure to be a very cool Kickstarter launching next month.

Relics uses the Fugue System as designed by James Wallis that first appeared in his game Alas Vegas (which I mentioned last week in the blog). In Alas Vegas the basic premise was that the characters woke with no knowledge of who or where they were, and the game gradually filled in those details as the story progressed. The Tarot cards are used for task resolution using Blackjack (or "21") as the main system. However, in Relics the characters know who they are - they are angels stranded on Earth. The memory recovery element is still present, but the players start with a definite feel for who their character is, as they struggle against demons, creatures and some humans, to try to save the world from itself. Instead of remembering who they are, the mechanic cleverly allows players to recall skills or information that will help them in times of need, filling in the character's backstory as the game progresses. The player determines the skill they need to "remember" but another player narrates the memory.

In addition to this, the angels can discover and reconnect with powerful relics that have powers and abilities that could aid them in their fight, or have the opposite effect. While the game could be a pure fight against demons and evil forces, the inclusion of these relics adds an element of hunting for hidden and powerful items, racing against time and demonic powers to gain control of them before they fall into the wrong hands.

Artwork from the forthcoming Relics RPG

I've been reading the playtest document for Relics and I'm really enjoying the use of the Fugue system for it. It seems like a perfect marriage of system and setting as the characters uncover elements of their past that can influence their actions now.

The Tarot cards are used in additional ways in Relics, coming into play in character creation (though in a faster way to that which I've been toying with in WILD) as well as generating random miracles, and other narrative effects.

It is going to be hard to review or preview Relics without mentioning other angelic roleplaying games, and this really does feel like it could be an excellent successor to the incredibly popular RPG In Nomine, (originally In Nomine Satanis/Magna Veritas) that was big in the late 90's. And that's not a bad thing to be compared to as I loved In Nomine. Relics also has echoes of TV series such as Lucifer and Supernatural, and movies like The Prophecy, though the tone of the game is certainly a lot darker.

Another fantastic element that the game has going for it is the design of the Tarot cards. Remember a couple of posts ago I talked about the original Mage: The Ascension game and the Mage Tarot that was produced to accompany it? It is still one of my favourite decks and the artwork is fantastic. Well, it seems that Dan Smith (aka SMIF) who did some of the artwork for the Mage Tarot, as well as most of the illustrations for In Nomine, is on board as artist for the Relics Tarot.

With that, and Steve Dee's writing, and a great use of the Fugue system, it looks like Relics could be a huge success. Definitely check it out when the Kickstarter - you can find it here!

The Call of the WILD

I've been a bit quiet and cagey about what I've been up to over the last few months, and I'm sorry I'm going to continue that caginess for now. But I've been busy, with a combination of work, writing, more work, not sleeping, stress and more. However, in amongst all that, when I'm actually trying to wind down, usually trying to get some sleep, my mind is drawn back by the call of the WILD. The WILD RPG I've been talking about and working on for the last three years...

Last night was no exception. There I was, trying to sleep after a long-assed day at the shop, and my mind started down a road. No. Not a road. A freaking rollercoaster.

It started with thinking about a Kickstarter. A friend of mine in games writing emailed me last week to see if I'd "be a stretch goal" - write just a few hundred words, only really a page, to contribute to his Kickstarter. I immediately said yes, not only because I thought the project sounded cool, but also because I've always liked this writer's work.

That got me thinking. I know a lot of people in the games industry. I could do the same thing! Offer to pay them (which would be fine if I Kickstarted the game) a little to write a few hundred words (if that) - maybe detailing a dream they'd had, and imagine how it would work as a scene or scenario that could inspired GMs to use it in their WILD game.

Then I started thinking, if the game did that well, I could package them all up in their own supplement at a certain stretch level.

So there's a supplement sorted. Though I'd always hoped if the game did well from a potential Kickstarter, that I'd split the section of the rules that dealt with card interpretation off into their own book, so it'd be easier to access for reference. So, that's two books after the core.

Cool.

And then there's the fiction. I don't know if it's any good, but the three books of fiction I had planned serves as a backstory to the game setting. Why and how the dreamshare technology exists in the real world. What's going on with the company that created it while the MD is "lost in the WILD". What happens to the real world once the technology becomes available.

So there's that.

And a Kickstarter would pay for some cool illustrations. Though part of me is such a control freak I'd want to to it all myself, but I'm just not gifted in the art department. And cool artists, like Eric Canete or David Despau, cost money. Lots of money because they are filled with so much talent!

But then, a cool and eye catching cover would sell the Kickstarter...

It's a never ending circle that one.

And I had ideas of making videos. A video a bit like the opening of the fiction, explaining where the tech came from and the nightmarish visions our heroine is trying to escape. And I had the urge to make a video that looked like a corporate instructional video from Apple or something, showing you how to use the dreamshare technology - how to put on the headset and program the machine, etc.

Then I started thinking about the graphic design for the books, and wanting it to have creative and interesting layout like 2nd Edition Kult or House of Leaves, but then I realised that I needed a better layout program than Pages on the Mac. Hell, I can't even do facing pages in that any more...

Then, of course, by the time I've gone through this cycle, I'm in a restless sleep, ready to start another day back to reality.

I'll find time to continue WILD somehow. It keeps calling me...

#RPGaDAY2015 - Day 3: Favourite New Game of the Last 12 Months

Again, I'm cheating a little with this one. I haven't really bought a lot over the last year, so my choice for this day's answer is actually a supplement for a second edition of an older game...

I posted the video early this morning, which features a guest spot by the ever awesome Paco Garcia from GMS Magazine.

My choice is the Blessed are the Children supplement for the excellent Little Fears RPG. I loved the first edition of the game, and hadn't picked up the second. So when the 3rd supplement for the game was Kickstarted, and there was a backer level to get all three of the books to date, I leapt at the chance.

You really should check out Little Fears if you can.

Right, I've a manuscript to format, and I have the strange urge to rewatch Buckaroo Banzai...

Until tomorrow...

"No matter where you go, there you are!"

#RPGaDAY2015 - Day 2: Kickstarter you're most pleased you backed...

I went through a really dangerous period when I got a bit carried away backing Kickstarters. I backed the Veronica Mars movie, Tabletop Season 3, and when it came to RPGs I looked at those shiny books (and I love shiny books) and clicked "back" on a lot of them...

I've had a couple of bad experiences which have put me off a little - that and having to be a little more financially savvy these days - but I love the opportunities that Kickstarter has given the hobby.

Unfortunately, being in the UK a lot of the really cool Kickstarter games are expensive to back, purely because of the nightmare of shipping costs, and the roulette of being charged by customs for importing cool games.

However, some companies with connections have found ways of distributing locally, and often these are the Kickstarters I leap at. Otherwise, it's showing my support backing at PDF level and hoping that the "in print" version will make it to the regular shop distribution.

So what game leaps out as being the one I'm most pleased I backed?

Numenera is very high on the list, as is Little Fears, and the Fate Core.

But for sheer production values, it's going to have to be a more recent one...

In today's video I've been joined by James Holloway, from Gonzo History Gaming

As always, share and enjoy!

The Resolution Will Be Televised?

"Bowel-shaking earthquakes of doubt and remorse,

Assail him, impale him, with monster-truck force."

- Cake "The Distance"

I know, this is a bit of a shock, an update that isn't looking back to the dim and distant past! Instead, we look to the present, and the future. It's been a while since I've updated regarding what is actually happening, instead of being reflective and pondering over nostalgic memories. So, what's been going on?

Conspiracy X

First of all, the Kickstarter for the 4th book in the Conspiracy X 2.0 line (The Conspiracies Sourcebook) finished with an overwhelming success. I was absolutely stunned and blown away by the response. While that Kickstarter was finishing, I frantically proofed George's excellent layout and setting of The Paranormal Sourcebook, the 3rd book in the line, and it has now gone off to print.

The Paranormal Sourcebook is available now on DriveThruRPG here and a fine addition to any Unisystem fan's library it is too.

The Kickstarter for The Conspiracies Sourcebook was so successful, it unlocked the chance for production to start on Extinction, the official sequel to Conspiracy X, a possible future of the ConX universe where the aliens have invaded and humanity must fight back. Think Falling Skies, or V meets the high tech near future of something like Total Recall or Halo. It's gonna be awesome. 

The first promo art for the forthcoming game - Extinction

Most of it is already written by the god of Unisystem himself, CJ Carella, I just need to bash it into shape and plug in the game system. Tricky, but doable. Should be very, VERY cool. I've made a start already, just need more hours in the day!

WILD RPG (Wake Induced Lucid Dreaming)

Things with WILD have been a little on the back-burner with Conspiracy X and Extinction coming to the fore. I'm still working on it, and recently a large chunk of the "meta-plot" or backstory of the setting has fallen into place. The system is just about sorted, the setting is there, I just need to get writing more of it. I've made a start on that too, it's early days yet, but I'm hoping it's going to be cool. 

Been discussing interesting new avenues for it as well, interactive character sheets and animated/interactive eBook versions of the rules... but again, it's early days.

Videos

It's been a while since I parted ways with Cheesemint (or Cheesemint Productions Ltd as they are now), yet both my wife and myself have had comments congratulating us on becoming a Limited Company. So, just to set the record straight, Debs and I are no longer involved in Cheesemint's endeavors, and haven't been for a while. I'm still proud of what we accomplished with Unlocked. Matt and Adam made that climatic episode more amazing than I could have ever dreamed, and there's more drama, comedy, action and geek references in the 90mins of that webseries than the whole series of The Big Bang Theory. And the end credits of episode one is still one of the funniest things I've seen in a long time.

But that's the past! This is about the present and the future! Unlocked has been rebooted, and Debs and I have moved onto other things.

However, I have a camera. 

I've been reluctant to free it from its case, and have been for some time. I don't know. It just feels odd. I've considered selling it, it'd certainly help go towards buying a computer that is from this century - one that actually works with Facebook, or Youtube. But part of me is concerned that I waffle a bit much on here to be interesting and that a little video here and there would spice things up a little. Not too often though, after all, it is a little time-consuming - one of the reasons why I left the webseries production thing behind in the first place.

It wouldn't be anything too complicated. Sure, I had this idea for a webseries called "Players" which was about 30-somethings who met every week to play RPGs. You saw them dressed in the outfits of their characters and talking both in and out of character but in the setting of the game, so they could discuss girlfriend problems or issues at the office while battling orc armies. It would have been like Friends meets the old Dungeons and Dragons cartoon. But that was over a year ago, and I think I've lost my motivation for that.

I was thinking about something simple - just a video every now and then about RPGs, maybe taking a closer look at a particular game, as a supplement to the text blog here. The first one I was thinking about was covering the original Ghostbusters RPG to tie into the retrospective I'm going through at the moment. Maybe once WILD is actually playable I'd film some of the actual play. I dunno...  what do you think? Should I bother?

The future is in your hands.

Anyway, I'll return to my nostalgia trip next week, continuing the tale of the Ghostbusters RPG and how it shaped my gaming future.

Until then, stay multi-classy.

Conspiracy X 2.0 - The Paranormal Sourcebook

A little while ago I posted on here about Eden Studios and the work I did for them for Conspiracy X 2.0 - mentioning how the second book, "The Extraterrestrials Sourcebook" was finally seeing print thanks to a Kickstarter campaign that would fund the print run, and give those who preordered loads of cool extra bonuses.

Well, we're at it again. Launching just yesterday, Eden have decided to get the Paranormal Sourcebook into print for the first time (it's not been released before, not even as a PDF) using Kickstarter (Click Here to go to the Page).

The Paranormal Sourcebook collects the three original paranormal phenomena sourcebooks for the original Conspiracy X system (Shadows of the Mind (Psychics), Forsaken Rites (Magic and the Occult) and Cryptozoology (strange creatures)) and converts them into Unisystem.

I guess the big deal with this one is that it not only converts the material to Unisystem, but it also covers how to use Seepage (the psychic phenomena that's causing all the weird stuff) in other Unisystem games like WitchCraft and Armageddon, and how it relates to their use of Essence - the natural magical element in the universe.
It's all cool stuff.

And, of course, if it goes well, we'll hopefully see book 4 - The Conspiracies Sourcebook sometime next year... (fingers crossed).

Conspiracy X 2.0 - The Extraterrestrials Sourcebook

Bit of a diversion from talking about WILD and movies/TV series that feature dreams, as I wanted to bring to your attention one of my past projects - Conspiracy X 2.0.

I started work on Conspiracy X 2.0 in 2002, shortly after my father died. I guess it was a way for me to cope with it all, concentrating on writing the RPG, so ConX has a bit of a personal meaning for me. I loved the game anyway, after it was first recommended to me many, many moons ago by a friend of mine, Jason. He knew I was an obsessive X-Files fan and said "hey, check this out!" and loaned me the original core rulebook.

While I loved the setting, I was a bit baffled by the system. I get it now, but at the time I thought it was a bit over-complicated, so never actually ran it as a game. But, so blown away was I by the game setting, I started talking to those lovely people at Eden about writing and producing a Conspiracy X comic (this was back in my hay-day as a comic publisher - see the previous post). One thing lead to another, which lead to my work on Terra Primate, plugging the game system into a setting I'd been given, so the logical progression was to take Conspiracy X's awesome setting and to plug in Eden's house system - Unisystem.

As I said, I started work on this in 2002, and the core rulebook hit the shelves over four years later, and was nominated for an Ennie Award in the 2007 Ennies.

But then, one thing after another happened, and Eden were unable to get any more books out. The Extraterrestrials Sourcebook (collecting the three original ConX alien books, Exodus, Atlantis Rising and Nemesis) was released as a PDF (in 2009) but it's not the same as a lovely book is it?

Anyway, Eden have come up with a solution. They've put the Extraterrestrials Sourcebook up as a Kickstarter project, hoping to raise the $5000 needed to get the books printed. If you pledge, you'll not only get a copy of the PDF (and the book if you pledge enough) but also the more you pledge, the more you get like signed bookplates, t-shirts and your name in the credits!

And, even more exciting, if the book gets funded, then book 3 (The Paranormal Sourcebook) is more likely to get printed, and then book 4 (The Conspiracies Sourcebook)... and I may actually get paid for writing them!!

So head on over to Kickstarter and have a look - check out the little video I filmed for Eden, and maybe pledge some money. If you're new to Conspiracy X, I'd go for the $75 option and get the corebook as well. It's an awesome game, with one of the coolest settings for an RPG!