Happy Christmas To Me!

Ha! The print run of the new book, COMES CHAOS, came through early...today, in fact. 

[well, not actually "early;" just earlier than anticipated (getting the right paper stock from suppliers has been, like everything during the pandemic, a bit complicated)]

Still: there it is. Spent a couple hours driving to and from Tacoma, picking up five crates of books. And they turned out really nice...far better than I expected or hoped. The whole time I was driving there I had this vision of me having to tell the folks, 'nope, that's not going to work for me,' and having to deal with all that fallout, but all my fears were groundless. Turned out quite nifty, despite being softcover.

SO...folks will notice there's a new button on the blog for ordering a print copy. Same price as the other books (it has a couple more pages than TCBXA, but I don't anticipate the weight being being more than negligible for shipping). Come and get it, people.

; )

In other news: I've had the chance to go over all the submissions received for my YEAR OF THE RAT contest. Despite the suggestion that it was too short a turnaround time, six folks got seven adventures to me BEFORE the deadline of midnight, 11/30. My own offering wasn't finished before 12:10am on 12/1 (as I noted in my last post) so, well, boo me. In my defense, I will note that I'm the only one to do an AD&D adventure, and I had to calculate the XP value of the three new monsters I included in the appendix (that's what I was doing at 11:57pm) which is, you know, ridiculous but I'm a bit of a stickler. I also cooked a six-dish meal for the family dinner (not counting the dessert) so...well, whatever. 

*AHEM* As I was saying, I've gone over all the submissions, and I have the two winners (not yet notified) as well as the short-list of entries that will be going in the compilation book. I'll blog about all that tomorrow.

Okay, that's it. Dinner tonight was a fantastic beef stew with a vegetable medley side and a really nice "Swiss peasant" loaf (now with 60% more peasant!). My glass of cab is sitting downstairs waiting for me, and I'm feeling pretty "holly-jolly." Later, gators.

Changing Seasons

The family Blood Bowl season ended over the weekend, with my boy's wood elves triumphing over the ork team (me) 4-3.  He beat me fair and square despite having (in my opinion) a pretty crushing advantage in terms of team. But I had a costly mistake to end the first half, and I got greedy with my fouling (leading to two ejections) leaving me no room for error in the second half. Thus when the double skull roll came up for my star black ork...and the elves were able to take a two TD lead...the game was effectively put away. "Catch up" is just not a game the orks can play, and my third TD was what NFL fans would simply call a "garbage time" score.

On the bright side, that means we'll be getting our dining room table back (finally!), which increases the possibility of OTHER types of gaming.

So, too, does the end of the school soccer season. This coming Saturday will be our final game, and while year round soccer will continue for both my children, my coaching responsibilities will be coming to an end, as will the Tuesday-Thursday practices. The kids are already planning playdates and a Halloween "D&D party" (via zoom) that they expect me to DM.

Should probably prep some sort of adventure for that.

Diego re-started his D&D club at school this week and, surprise-surprise, he has decided to go back to the B/X system, albeit with some modification (specifically: bumping up hit dice to AD&D levels and adding negative HPs to increase player survivability). He is capping his group at six, though he already has kids on a "wait list" to join the game. He is also using my book The Complete B/X Adventurer, which he spent the last couple days reading. "You're a pretty good writer, Pops," he told me. "Reading your book makes me want to play D&D!" That kind of thing is always nice to hear.

Regarding the print copies of the new book: my printer can't do hardcover and couldn't recommend any other local printers. I found a couple via the internet and requested quotes on print costs: no response. It's like people don't want to take my money or something; I really don't get it. Right now, I am strongly considering just doing a Print On Demand thing with DriveThru though I'd prefer not to...it's less money in MY pocket, and I can't exercise any quality control...plus, I get no hard copies on hand to sell to local retailers, etc. On the other hand, it's a lot less hassle to just use their services (assuming I can make the thing work). *sigh* I don't know. At least the PDF has been selling well...gross sales have surpassed my costs, and the thing appears to have driven a resurgence in my other books' sales as well.

SO...gaming stuff. The seasons are changing. We are deep into Autumn. Holidays just around the corner. Conventions are out (for me), but D&D is definitely IN. 

I think I want to talk about campaigns. Let me scribble some notes and I'll come back with a proper post. Dentist appointments today.

Friday Updates

First a couple updates about the new book (COMES CHAOS): people are buying it (thanks to all my customers) so hopefully there will be a review or two in the near future. Some folks have had issues opening the original file, but this only seems to be the case when using the latest Adobe Acrobat...no idea why. However, I've updated the product at DriveThru so that the purchase includes a cover-less PDF, and that has (so far) opened fine in ALL formats.

***EDIT: It appears the cover issues have been fixed.***

New Book...Fun!

I've been asked a couple times now about a print version of the book. That's in the works, but I don't have a release date yet. I wanted to get the book out and available so that folks would have it in time for any Halloween gaming escapades (it does have some "horror" elements)...but mainly it's been sitting on the hard drive so long, I just wanted to get the thing out and into the world. 

More biz updates (hopefully) in the next couple/few days.

[some folks might be curious why I'm bothering to publish/promote a B/X-based supplement when...for the last many moons...I've been writing fairly exclusively about AD&D and how it's the "truest" form of Dungeons & Dragons. There are multiple reasons, not the least of which are: the book was already written, B/X is still the system I'm most comfortable designing for, B/X is still an edition that is "worthy" of being played...AND I understand that for plenty of folks B/X is their preferred system (because it's streamlined, because it's quicker/easier, because it's a sensible, mostly complete game, etc.). Still, the main reason is: it was a nice piece of writing, and I want to be known as a dude who writes for this game, not just some balthering idiot with a blog. It makes my ego feel better to have published something]

Regarding our Blood Bowl World Cup: it is still on-going, but one team has its spot in the finals (Bubblegum Dynamite), and the other semi-final game is halfway done (we plan on finishing the 2nd half today). It's tough finding time to play full games with our busy schedule, but we're close, and will probably have a champion crowned by Sunday. The orcs punched their ticket to Cup game by demolishing the Amazons 1-0 (not a high scoring affair, but only five of the 'Ladies were left on the pitch by the end of the game). Unfortunately, their thrower was killed two games back and they will be forced to go with their "ground game" against a high scoring team, regardless of the outcome (the halftime score of our other semifinal? 3-2. And we're expecting more TDs in the second half of this classic shootout). Rough.

Of course, there are parallels to be drawn with the Seahawks losing their quarterback in last night's fiasco. Not that this concerns me over-much. I mean Gino Smith isn't Russell Wilson, no, but this season the quarterback isn't the problem. The defense is the problem. And the problem with the defense is f'ing Jamal Adams. You cannot build a proper orky defense around a goblin, and that is what Adams is. Well, in Blood Bowl terms. Watching him get erased by Cooper Kupp (a wide receiver with...as one analyst described...the size and physique of a dentist) to spring a 29 yard run is at least as egregious as watching him give up 68 yard receptions and get beat like a drum in the endzone by a middle-of-the road tight end. In NFL terms, he's garbage...currently ranked the #70 safety in the league, per Pro Football Focus.

[for non-football fans: there are 32 NFL teams, and each has two starting safeties. Being outside the top 64 would mean sitting on the bench...and yet the Seahawks made him the highest paid safety in the game. Crap. Tastic.]

I blogged earlier that I'd softened my stance on Adams. Okay, yeah, no. No more. The book is out on him around the League: he is the pigeon of the defense. The skaven...er, Rams...simplified their offense immensely in the 2nd half of last night's game: just go after Adams. In the run game. In the passing game. Doesn't matter. Where's #33? There he is. Call the play that attacks his position. For a guy who wanted to be paid more than B-Wags? An All Pro who will be in the Hall of Fame one day? No. Current BB stats:

#33 Goblin : MA 7 ST 2 AG 3 AV 8 Skills: Dauntless, Dodge, Right Stuff, Stunty, Thick Skull

He's still a better-than-average goblin (his line has four advances in the stat line), but he can't cover, he can't block, he can't tackle, he gets stood up by gutter runners...just sad. Damn, Seahawks. Losing at home...again. To the Rams...again.

Ah, well. MY orc team is built around solid defense. Yes, they have a goblin...he never saw the field in the semi-final. He is a last ditch, act-of-desperation player. Not the centerpiece to a defense. Good thing...the Seahawks are giving up 450 yards per game on defense this year. We'll see if they can fix it. In my opinion, they can't until they cut bait with Adams.

All right, that's enough bitchin-moaning. It's Friday for goodness sakes! And I've got a new book out (probably why I'm not as bitter, resentful as I might be...YES, I am actually in a good mood at the moment!). And lots of soccer to watch! Halleluja!

Have a great weekend, folks. Seriously. I fully intend to. At least I know my Sunday won't be wrecked by a dumpster-fire Seahawks game.

; )

Burn that uniform, gobbo.

Fan Service

While I don't miss living in Paraguay, I've actually come to miss some things from that country (as I figured I would). For example, last weekend I ditched my old propane grill and picked up a cheap charcoal burner so that I could do a Paraguayan-style asado at my house...various cuts of red meat, rubbed in coarse salt and slow-roasted over several hours to be consumed in pieces sliced and shared (along with grilled sausages, mandioca, and fantastic sopa paraguayo baked by my lovely wife). Sure we consumed a medley of vegetables, too (we're a little more health conscious, after all!) but it was a nice reminder of flavors we enjoyed...and missed...from our time down there.

Another thing I've come to miss over the last nine months of American life is quality soccer. Sure the Seattle Sounders won the MLS cup this year (my son and I watched the championship game in a local Greenwood brewhouse), but the professional level of play in the U.S. is, unfortunately, not quite to the standard seen in South America (or, indeed, other parts of the world...the Classico this year was one for the ages!). This became readily apparent when my 6-year old (at the time five) joined his first American soccer team and played like a frigging superstar: scoring 8-10 goals a game, going end-to-end with the ball through multiple defenders, scoring goals from mid-field, one-timing passes like Leo Messi. Jaw-dropping for the other parents at his school (who said he needed to play with the 4th graders and bring some much needed power), and immensely entertaining for Yours Truly. However, it's more a mark that the competition in the States...and over-all player skill...just isn't up to the same standards as in South America.

The trophy is taller than my boy. We've measured.

Plus, my son brings a lot of enthusiasm to the game...after all, soccer is really the only show in town in Paraguay, and it's pretty much all he played and talked about with the other boys while he attended school there for a year-and-a-half. It made for an especially memorable MLS finals as we got to cheer famous Paraguayan Nelson Valdez (the guy on the left in the above photo), who was excellent in the Sounders' championship run.  After the season ended, Valdez (whose actual last name is Haedo-Valdez, and who is known in Latin America as Nelson Haedo) transferred to Paraguayan professional team Cerro Porteno, which just happens to be  my son's favorite pro club in Paraguay. When we visited Asuncion in February, we had a chance to see him in his second game with Cerro and, due to my wife's connections, our children got to meet Nelson in the locker room afterwards. He was was warm and gracious and signed all their jerseys (both Sounders and Cerro) and gave my boy a memory he'll cherish forever. For a fan, one couldn't have asked for a better experience.

I would certainly NOT consider myself any kind of "international superstar," but I know that I have a certain degree of fame (or at least notoriety) for my writing. A month or two back, the kids and I were up at Around The Table in Lynnwood (probably playing a game of Blood Bowl), when Nick (the co-owner) introduced me to some guys who were huge fans of Five Ancient Kingdoms; folks who owned and were playing it and whom I'd never before met. Their enthusiasm and praise was...well, frankly, it was a little over-whelming. I'm just not used to complete strangers gushing over my creative works, at least not face-to-face, and I may have been at a loss for words. I only hope I was nice and humble with them and gave them a good impression (i.e. that I'm a nice guy) and not some sort of aloof asshole.

Yeah, sometimes I worry about this kind of thing. I'm not really anti-social...I'm usually pretty gregarious in social situations. But deep down, there's a part of me that simply has a hard time believing folks really value my creations, despite the monthly evidence of payments being deposited for my PDFs and the emails I receive asking for a re-release of the B/X Companion in print form. And perhaps it is this doubt that has (in some subtle, subconscious way) contributed to me dragging my feet when it comes to actually getting around to re-printing the book, despite the numerous requests.

[which has led to some amusingly ridiculous incidents: like the person selling a copy on eBay for over $1K. I mean, it's not like I'm dead or something!]

And SO...I am doing a new print run of my B/X Companion. Called my printer today, in fact, to get a price quote. This will be a limited run...probably a hundred copies or so...and I'll need to check postage rates before I put the order button on the web site, as shipping prices have gone up the last few years. But the book's price should remain the same: $24.99. Once I have product in hand, I'll let folks know it's cool to order again.

Time to get back into this publishing thing.

New Book

I want to write a new book.

Despite the lack of time I have, despite the lack of actual gaming available, despite the sheer inertia of slack that living in this damn country seems to instill in me (well, to be fair, I'm kind of busy being a father to my children), I feel the need to complete something.

More than that, I have a completely unreasonable challenge of wanting to get something done here, in Paraguay. I don't know how much it would cost to do a print-run down here or what the quality of the product might look like, but I feel almost obligated to try...just to have the experience. I have visions of making the trip up to the U.S. with one suitcase full of Paraguayan printed books. How wild would that be?

I've been thinking about this a lot, even as I dither around with projects. I find myself frustrated when I look at the works on my hard drive that are 50% or 70% or 95% completed (CDF was completely finished, save for the art, and I scrapped and started a complete rewrite due to my dissatisfaction with the final product). I get an idea in my head and I go gang-busters on it for a few days or weeks or months, and then...ugh. It's not that I run out of gas, so much as I run out of inspiration. Or fire. Or something. I want to give something to the community that...well, that's worthwhile. And while such a thing is certainly in the eye of the beholder (like the chicken-shit reviewer that gave one of my books "1 star" without a single comment...fuck you, dude), it has to seem worthwhile to Yours Truly. It's all well and good to say, hey, let's make a cool "space RPG," but if Classic Traveller is good enough for such a concept, why do I need to write a new book?

[not that retools of past concepts are never worthwhile, just by the way. Batman '66 is, quite frankly, awesome sauce]

A friend down here recently gifted me with a very nice, hard cover journal of the blank page variety. It would make a cool sketchbook, save that the paper is a little thin for drawing. I've yet to write word one in it; I just keep turning it over in my hands and wondering what I can and will do with it...if anything. And I just keep thinking, "I need to write another book." Something concrete, something finished, something that can be handled and held and used...by both myself and others.

The hard copies of Five Ancient Kingdoms is dwindling (just checked with my mailer via email the other day)...probably about a dozen-twenty copies remaining...but it hasn't really sold well enough (in my mind) to warrant another print run. And yet I was just informed via email of a long-time gamer about to start a 5AK campaign with her gaming group. That's very cool. I want to do that again...I want to create something useful and fun and entertaining. I'm not a novelist. I don't write screenplays.  My "rockstar days" are long behind me. This is what I do...the "game thing." Blogging just ain't enough.

OOOOOkay...glad I could get all that off my chest. It's been stewing a lot lately (along with everything else...football playoffs and holiday travel and whatnot) and I really needed to put it in writing, spew it out into the universe so it stares back at me. Instead of just having it bouncing around my brain in an endless loop.

Give me the weekend to figure out the specifics of the project. Thanks.

A Perfect Seattle Morning...

Not that there aren't a lot of beautiful days in Seattle (especially in the Summer) but some days are just about perfect weather-wise. Probably you have to be a lifelong resident to know the difference: just the perfect amount of heat, sun, breeze, and (slight) humidity. It absolutely poured rain on Friday, and that helped clear out the smog/heat inversion caused by too many days of cloudless sun and too many cars on our highways. With a big-ass cup of home-brewed coffee and a slight buzz remaining from a triumphant (and unexpected) Mariners win the night before...well, you couldn't ask for a much better way to start the day.

Of course, it helps that my wife is back in town and that she is responsible for wrangling the child upstairs (today, he seems to have decided he wants to run free...and naked...perhaps in emulation of the running beagles). Hey, I made him breakfast this morning (oatmeal...can't go too wrong with Quaker)...it's her job to get him dressed for church.

Yes, yes...I realize my whole thing about writing with a focus on 5AK this week has gone by the wayside the last few days. It's not that I actually lied...I have several posts planned that I still hope to get to in the coming days...but my follow-through has certainly been lacking. I've been tired, folks, and the last week has felt like I'm working three jobs, between caring for D, going to my day gig, and trying to get the book ready. It IS ready, by the way...or at least it's printed and waiting for me to pick-up (tomorrow). While I don't yet have my resellers certificate (which would allow me to get out of the sales tax), I won't be passing that cost along to my customers, and I hope to have firm numbers from the post office by tomorrow, too. Enough so that I can put up a link for sale on this web site. And, yes, I am going to make this one available for PDF download, hopefully within the next two weeks (my target date for e-release is the 19th of August)...I'm not going to make folks wait around for this one.

Anyway, I'm not sure if you're going to see much more posted from me today: my intention is to take it extremely easy today because I'm going to be in tornado-work mode tomorrow (it's my "day off" that I get once every two weeks and I'll be using it to do as much as possible both with regard to the book and in preparation for Dragonflight this weekend). Frankly, this morning feels like the calm before the storm. I'm doing my best to remain relaxed even as my excitement builds.

More later, people. Enjoy your Sunday!
: )

Countdown to 5AK - Ten Days Till Release

Give or take.

[somewhere in the San Juans....Orcas Island to be specific...]

The magic of the internet is truly a wonderful thing when it comes to "getting work done." I can email manuscripts to proof-readers I've never met, get the documents back, and (after making changes) get the  finished volumes of to the printer electronically. If I was so inclined, I could simply have the printed books shipped to my home and never see anyone but the postmaster...but I'm too much of a control freak to be that hands off.

It was back in February 2012 that I first suggested people stop wasting their brain power absorbing new rule systems being published as part of WotC's business model and simply write their own version of D&D, an idea I referred to as "D&D Mine" (in direct opposition to "D&D Next"). My idea at the time was to do a small, free supplement for OD&D, not unlike Planet Eris, that would simply combine a bunch of my house rules along with (perhaps) a simple setting fit for the D&D game.

Somewhere along the line in the last year and a half, that idea morphed into something waaaay different. Deconstructing the original game led me to building the thing from the foundation up. The "simple setting" became a deep research project into the 8th century middle eastern history and culture. The small, free supplement became a three volume fantasy adventure game with its own set of custom dice. I didn't start this project with any particular ambition, but sometimes stuff just snowballs, ya' know?

Yesterday, I sent the final manuscripts off to the printer. I'm hopeful that the print run will be complete by the 5th (in time for Dragonflight) and that there won't be any issues. Barring potential problems and set-backs. 5AK should be ready for release to the public within ten days or so. The price point hasn't yet been determined, because I don't know what the final cost per copy is going to be (the price per 3-book set has gone up $3 in printing costs just between my May quote and now, but I'm hoping they'll swing me a break and allow me to "pass on the savings to my customers"). My plan is to also make the books available as PDFs for a substantially lower cost, and that will probably (hopefully) happen by mid-August.

Anyway. Just wanted to give people a heads up. Now I've got to wander down to the ocean and see if I can find my family. Expect more updates in the near future.

Boring the Hell Out-O-People (More 5AK)

SO...got to the printer yesterday. Figured out how to do everything. Got the call into the Chessex people for the large order of custom dice...should be here in three weeks. The printer figures they'll be able to have books ready in a week or less once I send them the images. The extra pages I needed to add to Book 1 have all been written...I only wish I had enough room for one more illustration I wanted to include. Tim's shrink-wrap machine is fired up and ready to go. The money has been stockpiled for the run.

Jeez, this is one crazy-ass vanity project.

5AK is my (current) version of D&D. It's weird...not weird like Lamentations of the Flame Princess but weird in that people will read it and say, "This isn't D&D...this is something weird." It's not twisted. It's definitely not generic. It can be used to created games that are twisted and/or somewhat "generic high fantasy," but that's not the default, built-in setting of the game.

I have no idea what people will think of it. I have no idea if people will like it.

Well, okay, that's not entirely true. My play-testing over the last few months has garnered me a lot of feedback, pretty much all of which has been positive. In fact, I really haven't heard much negative criticism at all (then again, most of the people I hang out with tend to be on the uber-nice side...it's a Seattle-thang...rather than being the hard-assed critics I probably need hammering me). I guess when I say "I don't know if people will like it," what I'm really trying to say is, "I don't know if it will sell like hot-cakes...and regardless of sales, I don't know if anyone will really be fired up enough to play the damn thing."

*sigh* This is not pointless second-guessing, just by the way. At this point, I've come too far to back down from publishing the thing. However, right now I am at the stage where I am:

A) Considering how many copies to print, and
B) Considering what my price point should be.

These are fairly important considerations for the independent game designer/publisher. The B/X Companion sold out through three (small) print runs. The PDF version (only created long after the last print run was gone) has sold nearly as many electronic copies, though at a considerably reduced price. On the other hand, The Complete B/X Adventurer, has failed to sell out even its first print run as of this date, and while the printing was larger than any single print run of the Companion (about twice as large), it's still only a single printing. And I know a lot of people have complained bitterly about its pricing.

I am not a business man. I did not study business, I've never been mistaken for an entrepreneur of any stripe (good or bad), and my last private sector job was in 1999 (a long, long ass time ago). I'm not self-employed, I'm a civil servant (no, I don't work for the post office...if I did I probably wouldn't have to charge people the shipping and handling that I do). I don't have a business model. Hell, I don't even have a mission statement (though perhaps I should come up with one).

Even so, I'm publishing these things to make money. Not big money; not get rich money. But money...enough to recoup my costs and enough to finance the next book. Much of my profit from the first book went into the second book, and the little "profit" remaining from the 2nd book (have to buy dog food, too!) combined with the PDF sales of the B/X Companion is the "seed money" I'm using to publish 5AK.

I have no idea if it will sell or not.

Which means this could be a one-way trip into business oblivion. There was plenty of "buzz" about the B/X Companion, not to mention a renewed interest in old school B/X gaming (fostered at least in part by my fairly extensive blogging in "the time before toddler"), both of which helped to drive sales. Neither of these things apply to 5AK. Oh, there's some "interest"...but most folks don't seem to be looking for a new way to play the world's "favorite adult fantasy role-playing game." And for a price-point that meets my costs and allows me to finance the next book (hopefully, Cry Dark Future)...well, it may well drive some folks away.

After all, people are saving up their shekels to buy the recent re-release of 2nd Edition AD&D ($50 per book for the three core books). Ah, WotC...milking the ca$h cow one more time.

SO...because this IS a vanity project (a fantasy heart-breaker, remember?), I'm trying to figure out ways to limit the damage. My first thought is I should do a tiny print-run (like 50 copies) to see just how much interest there is. My second thought is to do some sort of "pre-order" thing...but then why not simply use Kick-Starter?

[because I'm deathly afraid of on-line bidding processes and I don't want to give them 5% of the money raised, that's why not]

Like I said, I'm still thinking about it. Right now, I need to get the all the proof-reading edits back AND get them added AND THEN get the order placed with the printer. It's exciting times (so exciting I've dozed off two or three times while blogging this post...really need to get some sleep), and I'm probably just doing the stress-and-anxiety dance, over-thinking the whole thing. Need to get it together, JB!

Maybe I'll start with 100 copies...

Formatting Nightmare

I hate you, Kinko's. 

No, I'm not just saying that. Yes, I realize they are not Kinko's anymore, but FedEx Office (isn't that who Tom Hanks was working for when he ended up marooned on a frigging island with a volley ball and a pair of ice skates? I don't remember)...but it's still the same location, still the same employees, still the same old shit.

And I do mean shit. $30 for books that don't lay flat and for margins bigger than my thumb and image resolution that, quite frankly, isn't up to snuff. Ugh. Ugh, UGH!

Got my "proofs" back (duh) and they're passable enough...I mean enough that I can work with them...but they're nothing I could sell to anyone. They look like garbage. I mean, they look FINE, but they need to look better than that. Which is, of course, why I go to a professional printer for my books, but, well, there it is (I ran into this same issue back when I was first trying to print up my B/X Companion...I guess I just don't learn). They just make me mad...they look, quite frankly, cheap and amateurish, and no, I'm not just being hard on the books for the F of it. I HATE f'ing Kinko's!

They're about on par with Ninja Burger. No, scratch that...more like Kobolds Ate My Baby.

5AK is supposed to be a more serious piece...dammit, it has classic illustrations. And it's supposed to...ugh!! I am so proud of what's IN it, and the form doesn't reflect that pride. Bugs the hell out of me, in fact and, no, I do not think I'm being an uptight perfectionist about this. I wanted to order DICE tomorrow, dammit!

Ugh. Double-frigging-ugh. It's 9:49 (PST) and I still need to do dishes and get the car seat out of the car for the nanny, and I absolutely have to get up on time tomorrow. But dammit, I'm going to work on re-formatting this damn thing tonight...get it tight. Get it looking like the LBBs it's supposed to frigging resemble. And then, only then, shall I take it to my real printer and get them to bend over and put this thing together in a decent fashion with a decent looking cover. Hell, I might just go with basic brown. Why the hell not? It was good enough for Gygax and Arneson after all...and it beats this day-glo card stock I thought would look okay.

Frigging Kinko's...not only do they suck, they make me see my own damn imperfections.

9:55. Still have some beer left. Later.

Deep Thoughts? No, Just Updates.

A couple years back I started writing a blog post that started something like this:

“There are many ways to play Dungeons & Dragons…”

...I then meandered and rambled for about six to eight pages in fairly pretentious fashion before giving the whole thing up as a blog post. Just too big in scope…and one that I’m not feeling up to tackling (even in half-assed fashion) at this point in my “writing career.” Maybe someday.

A recent discussion on another blog made me consider revisiting a part of that post by writing about the role of DMs in fostering expectations of play in players…another thing that most of us DMs (and non-DMs) fail to consider when we sit down at the gaming table. It’s not that we’re necessarily bringing certain assumptions to the table that aren't correct…though that might be part of it…it’s just that we don’t (usually) even think about the impact we’re having outside of “are we providing the players with a good time/entertaining play” (and sometimes we’re not even considering that). No, I’m not talking about “ruining the gaming experience for a newbie for all time by being a dick-weed.” No, I’m talking about fostering a sense of what “fantasy role-playing” is all about that may hamstring or  curtail the player’s natural imaginative/creative juices down the road.

You know? Like the way throwing a rookie quarterback out as the starter can really screw up a potential NFL starter’s career by forcing him to compete when he’s really not ready to do so?

Anyway, that conversation (or blog post) is another high-falutin’ one that I’ve decided I’m really not ready to delve into…maybe later this week, or maybe not. Instead, I’ve decided I’d prefer to give an update on 5AK and its publication. First, though, let me start with this:

I hate f’ing Kinko’s.

Of course, Kinko’s no longer exists (at least not in Washington…maybe they still have a store somewhere in California). Instead, we have FedEx Office which is just as bad except that they’re not open 24 hours like Kinko’s was back in the day.

Remember those “good ol’ days?” Sure they were still gouging clients on paper and ink costs and they had the (notoriously) surly customer service…but at least you could walk into a place at midnight, put in your order, and come back around 3 or 4am after pounding a thermos of coffee and a Grand Slam breakfast at Denny’s.

*Sigh*…I miss that.

Instead, when I get a bee in my bonnet and say, dammit, I need a mock-up proof that I can hold and feel and review and…whatever…INSTEAD, I have to run down to the store by 7pm and I still get this “we’re closing in two hours so you won’t be able to pick this up till Monday…after 4pm.” Motherf***rs! I’m paying $30 for that?!

No…I am not one for delayed gratification. I believe I’ve mentioned this more than once.

SO, yeah…that’s what’s going on. I’ve decided I need to do “a little something” every day on getting 5AK published or else I’ll go batshit-crazy. Today, I’m picking up my proofs and I’m hoping to make some decisions on dice colors. Tomorrow, I am hopeful I’ll be able to make some decisions about the latter and will place the order with Chessex. Wednesday, I’ll be putting together another play-test session which will then be executed on Thursday, with changes being made Friday and Saturday. And then Monday I will be seeing my REAL printer to see “what can you do for me.” Depending on how that goes…well, that will determine what I’m doing next week.

[mmm...note to self: remember to add ISBNs, too]

I’ve had several readers contact me via email to let me know they are available for proof-reading. For the sake of expedience, I may be willing to take some of you up on the offer. You folks know who you are…I’ll be in contact via email.

My terribly optimistic, non-conservative estimate is that I’ll have something to offer for sale by June. 5AK is going to be offered in both print and PDF format…though the printed booklets are going to be so much cooler and include custom dice so why anyone would want to go the electronic way is unclear.

Of course, I’m a primitive Neanderthal so, whatever.

[for readers who really don’t give two hoots about 5AK and are waiting with bated breath for Cry Dark Future…sorry. I know, I know…YOU folks don’t want or need “another D&D” you want your cyber-elf and miniguns and whatnot. Here’s the quick update: I’ve got back all the proof-reading edits, but the book hasn’t been updated yet. The artwork is coming in slowly but surely…I’ve received more than a dozen pieces so far, at least half of which should be “workable.” Still need to complete the formatting, page numbers, correct the table of contents, etc. At the last moment, I’ve decide NOT to add Halflings to the mix because, cool as that might be…well, dude, I’m just not going to do it at this point.CDF will get done…and hopefully soon…but 5AK is almost certainly going to be done first. Again, sorry folks]

Okay, I’m signing off now. Even writing about this stuff makes me all sorts of antsy. I’ve got to work on something different for awhile…maybe my Holmes knock-off.

Holmesian Brevity

[written around 3pm or so]

Wow…just having a tough time focusing today. Might as well do some writing.

I’m pretty darn excited about the new game…so much so, that I’d rather be working on getting the thing published than working at my job-type job. Spent my lunch break calling Chessex and seeing what they could do for me as far as custom dice (not a lot as it turns out, unless I want to pay $2 per die). What I REALLY want to do is head down to my printer and start getting price quotes, but they’re not open on weekends, and I don’t have a day off for eleven more days…and I need to go over the project with them in person. Dammit…I want proofs to try shrink-wrapping with Tim’s wonderful new apparatus, and it’ll be three-four weeks or something till they’re in hand!

UGH…patience is not one of the virtues I’ve got in spades. Sometimes I give the illusion of patience, but for the most part what I’ve got is sloth and stubbornness which makes me seem like a patient person. But I’m not. I am NOT a guy who’s into delayed gratification.

AAAaaaaargh!!!

Depending on the current cost of paper, I think I’ll be able to get this thing down to $21-22 (including dice, but not shipping and handling). PDFs will be $5-$7 (each booklet), depending on how much I’m willing to allow for gouging by PayPal and on-line distributors. Ugh! But I want this thing in stores…I want to see it on a shelf! I want, I want….

*sigh*

Misery.

In other news, I’ve spent other parts of my day downloading (and reading) Holmes retro-clones, not to mention refreshing my brain with Meepo’s Holmes Expansion (I tried, but couldn’t find, Professor Thorkhammer’s Holmes Companion)

[EDIT: the good professor was kind enough to email me a copy of his Expansion rules. Thanks!]

…none of which has been tremendously helpful, I’m sorry to say. I mean, they’re all well done, but…well, Holmes Basic itself is really just fine. I think I like the Blueholme Prentice Rules best just because they ARE so true to Holmes. Of course the author, Michael Thomas, is working on his Compleat BlueHolme Rules, which will probably be 200+ pages or something.

[not that I’m knocking the effort…Thomas is obviously laboring on his own D&D Mine project which I encourage EVERYONE to do at some point. I just get the impression form his BLOG that his opus is going to run a LOT longer than Holmes’s own sparse 48 pages…which pretty much takes the piss out of the thing for me]

48 frigging pages. That’s how many pages badass Holmes needed to create his own edition of D&D. I don’t think I actually noted this till I was doing my deconstruction for my own D&D Mine...previously, I’d just assumed Holmes’s volume was 64 pages like Moldvay. 48! And large parts of that are just reprints of Gygax’s prosy intro from OD&D or illustrations or white space. The guy does a lot with a lot less…I mean, he does manage to include most every B/X monster in his book.

5AK is a LOT longer than Holmes. True, it’s dwindled down to A5-size pages, but (not counting the covers) the number of letter-sized pages it uses is 36 (more even than my B/X Companion, which used the equivalent of 32 in its printing). Pull the covers off Holmes and the whole thing amounts to 24 pages…two-thirds the size of my game. Granted, it’s only a basic introduction to dungeon delving…but still, that’s pretty impressive considering there are still plenty of folks playing Holmes as their edition of choice and loving the hell out of it.

I actually don’t want to do a retro-clone of Holmes. What I want to do is something on the same scale as Holmes…both thematically and (more or less) page count-wise. Something that uses different-sided polyhedral dice (5AK only uses D6s, being based on CHAINMAIL). Something much more over-the-top, and yet gritty in a way 5AK is not.

[by the way…readers do realize I’m just typing my thoughts out loud, right?]

I do NOT want it to turn into a huge project of any kind…in fact, I might just cut-n-paste the monsters and spell descriptions from 5AK into it (maybe. 5AK doesn’t include DRUIDS and I have a sneaking suspicion that this new “thang” project will…more on that later). But I really don’t want to waste too much time on it. I mean, other than the writing/design itself (attempting to streamline the train wreck that is OD&D) the most impressive thing about Holmes is the cover artwork. And that’s pretty much how I’d like to keep my game...uber-simple. Hell, I might even do the interior illustrations myself (now that I found a free scanner in the library), just to insure I don’t take the thing too seriously.

Mmmm…okay, more on this later.

Companion Now Only A Click Away

I've updated the blog, so you can now click on the B/X Companion picture (right) to get directly to RPGNow, if you want to download a (PDF) copy of the book.

And hopefully, I'll have a NEW button for the NEW book, sometime today. Hopefully...as usual there appears to be a last minute computer SNAFU between myself and the printer. We're working it out.

: )

Saddle-Stitch? Not this time.

Met with my printer today to talk about the new book and get an estimate. The new book turned out to be more pages than I'd initially anticipated (60 instead of 40) due in large part to the inclusion of spell lists for several new spell-casting classes, but at least it was able to come in at under 64 pages, and managed to include everything I wanted in it.

Unlike the B/X Companion book (still needing to get that uploaded somewhere as a PDF...soon! soon!), the new book will be perfect-bound instead of saddle-stitched. For those new to the "printing lingo," that means no staples down the middle...instead, it will look like your usual RPG supplement or splat book. Doing the book perfect-bound means the cost for book will increase, but I'm doing a larger print-run this time to off-set the costs (we'll see how many extra books I end up having left over...). It also means less chance of getting defective copies (something that happened all too often with the last book).

Right now, I'm just waiting to hear back from my cover artist regarding some last minute additions to the cover format, and then the order will be off to the printer and I can go about figuring how to put a new PayPal button on the blog.

Wow...as I told Brian today, there were times when I started to think this particular project was never going to get finished. After finishing the B/X Companion, this one was a helluva' lot easier to write...but finding the time to put it all together was just sooooo irksome. It sure is tough trying to work a hobby/2nd job on the side when you've got a new baby needing love and attention...everything just seems to move at quarter speed.

Ah, well, it's pretty hard to complain when A) the kid is my favorite thing in the world, and B) the book got done anyway. I know my artists are all excited to see the end result in print form. I'm hopeful it will meet their expectations.

More news on this coming as it gets wrapped up.

: )

Home Stretch on the New Book

The new book is nearing total completion. The art is there, the formatting is done, and the page numbers are loaded. I've got two more charts to stuff, a table of contents to write, and some credits to give, but I hope to have all that done by tomorrow.

Which would be a very good thing, since I have an appointment with my printer on Monday.

I won't bore you with another movie review (saw Rock of Ages today...for a film set in 1987, they sure had a lot of stuff from 1988-90. As usual, the biggest surprise was Tom Cruise, whose pipes on Wanted Dead or Alive were pretty good...it was a better rendition than your usual karaoke and his tenor felt metal enough I wondered if it was actually a "stunt voice" coming out of his mouth. Unfortunately, his other songs weren't as good, though he was entertaining enough as rock god Stacie Jaxx).

Instead, I'm going to get back to finishing up those charts. Later, Gators.

***SOLD OUT!!!***

Well, just about.

I've got three orders in the ol' InBox for The B/X Companion and four copies of the book left...and I think I'm going to hang on to that last one for right now.

Thus Endeth the Third Print Run.

It appears there are still some copies left over at Noble Knight Games, and I know Gary's Games still had one copy in stock (for those Seattle locals looking to get one). But otherwise, they're gone and that's the end of that for the foreseeable future.

Yeah, I know...a real bummer. Unfortunately, my printer did not renew their lease on the machine that makes this kind of book possible. That may sound silly (it's just stapled down the middle, right?) but the onward march of technology means there isn't a call for that kind of product. They could subcontract the job to a specialist, but it would cost more, and...well, I'm not sure there's still the same amount of interest there to warrant a fourth printing, and I really don't want to do this thing perfect bound.

So, yeah...I'm sold out. At least until further notice.

However, there are a couple pieces of good news for folks who are interested in the product being churned out over here at Running Beagle Games:

1) The fact that I don't have any print copies (and don't expect to have any anytime soon) means I'll probably start working on a PDF copy of the book. Yeah...in all my spare time, right (notice I haven't even thrown up a blog post since Monday? And stuff has been happening)? Hmm...maybe #1 is kind of a pipe dream.

2) We are closing in on completion of the NEW book, a supplement for the B/X game: The Complete B/X Adventurer. There's been some mention of that here on the blog, like O back around here; welp, the writing's been done for awhile and now the cover is just about complete, AND my surly, work-shirking artists are finally getting their pieces in to me (well, except for Kelvin...he had his stuff complete months ago). In some ways, it's not as ambitious a project as the B/X Companion...a lot of the ideas in TCBXA have been culled directly from the blog. On the other hand, some of it IS a little "thick and meaty" - the spell list for the Witch class, for instance. Now that was just nutty of me.

; )

Mmm...well, more on that in the next week or two for sure. Right now, I need to get to bed. There's stuff I want to blog about (especially my D&D Mine project and some other B/X-stuff), but I am dog tired and it's almost 1am. It has been a rough week, folks, on a LOT of fronts.

Later, Gators.

Yakima Gold

So we spent most of the day in Yakima today (that's in Yakima County, Washington...named for the Yakima nation, which was the largest American Indian population west of the Mississippi prior to several bloody massacres at the hands of the U.S. Army). It poured rain, which didn't stop me and the boy from heading out on foot to explore the town. Nice as the hotel was (fantastic biscuits and gravy!) it was boring to hang around and the baby just did NOT want to nap. Something about the excitement of being alive and all, I guess.

However, the rain DID stop our (my) initial plans to hit up a few used book stores that I found on line...they were just too far from our base o operations and I did NOT want the boy to get pneumonia. Fortunately, we stumbled across a little collectibles shop called Ron's Mini-Mall and found a couple nice pieces of swag for the collection.

First up was a copy of the collected issues of DC's The War that Time Forgot...another 1960s piece of weird extravaganza featuring WWII soldiers in a Lost World (i.e. dinosaur) setting, reminiscent of the Turok Son of Stone comics I remember from my youth. Although the collection is black & white, printed on cheap pulp, and hopelessly dated, it is EXACTLY the kind of thing I am in the mood for right now with my recent dinosaur fetish. I'm going to have to clear some shelf space next to Xenozoic tales for this bad boy. Apparently, another comic company is putting together a similar-themed "re-boot" using 21st century soldiers of a Special Forces type, to be issued later this year. Whatever...I just need to know how many Thompson machine guns it takes to bring down an allosaurus.

[my Out of Time micro-game has been downloaded more than 120 times, by the way...still intend to get back to answering the questions/concerns certain readers brought up]

The second thing I picked up, though, was even MORE interesting. In one locked shelf, I found something that looked suspiciously like role-playing games (they were next to a big bowl or two of dice), but that I'd never heard of. Turns out it WAS a role-playing game I've never heard of: Chris Weedin's Horror Rules: The Simply Horrible Role-Playing Game. After some inquiries I was able to discover Mr. Weedin is a local author (well, he lives in Selah, just outside of Yakima) and he writes/designs RPGs for his own (indie) company. Horror Rules has been around the Yakima area for a few years (the copyright is 2003) and they have an annual Horror Rules tournament over Halloween, no less. The little old lady who was giving me the low-down said it was "quite different but a lot of fun." If she was a regular participant, she is definitely the oldest RPG gamer I have ever met.

Anyway, I picked up a copy of the basic game (Weedin has another nine or so supplements for HoR that adds on various genres and such), and I'm about halfway through it. And so far, it ain't half bad. I'm not much into horror role-playing, though I have a bit of experience with both Call of Cthulhu and InSpecters. Horror Rules seems about halfway between the two in terms of tone and technicality.

And it's barely 100 pages long (including a sample adventure). Nice.

: )

Anyhoo, I'm sure all be posting more on that later...if you're interested in Weedin's stuff you can check out his (very nice) web site, which has buttons to browse and order. Considering the quality of the book, his prices are pretty low...I don't know if he's nutty or if printing costs are cheaper in Eastern Washington, but I should probably find out as it might be worth the gas to get out there for my next print run.

So, yeah...back in Sea-Town now, safe and sound after a nice little visit over the mountains. Books to read and wine to drink (visited a couple wineries on the way out of town and picked up some good stuff). It is pouring rain in Seattle which means autumn has officially started in the Pacific Northwest. Personally, I love it. But I'm kinda' weird.

; )

B/X Companion: 3rd Printing Now Available!

Third and probably FINAL printing...at least in its current format.

The B/X Companion has definitely sold better than I could have ever hoped (well...maybe not that well; I can dream pretty big at times). However, my original hope was to get at least 25 or 30 paying customers. While the sales figures are still chump change compared to say, those Pathfinder guys who have their books on the shelves of Barnes & Nobles, I am definitely pleased with my "out-o-the-garage" sales. Like I said...I've already sold into the 3rd printing.

So if you were planning on picking up a copy in the current format, you probably want to throw down pretty quick. Here's the deal: my all aces printer is losing the machine that is capable of the saddle-stitched, staple down the middle format. IF you're interested in a book that reads similar to your old Basic and Expert set rules (something the book was designed to do) then this last print run will be your last chance to get a copy, because IF there is a 4th print run the book will probably be perfect bound...which is (in my mind anyway) not nearly as cool.

Not that the book was a perfect match to the old B/X books anyway...no three-hole punch for goodness sake!...but it's as close as I was able to get it with my thumb-fingered lay-out skills.

So what's changed between the 2nd and 3rd printing? Not a blessed thing. I wasn't getting any more typo reports after the proofing between printing #1 and #2 so I just let the printer roll with the files in his system. Hell, it still SAYS "2nd printing," which I suppose is a bit of false advertising or (at least) "bad publishing etiquette." But, as I said, nothing's been changed since the last round of updates...it's just an additional run of the last update.

Anyhoo, thank you to everyone who bought into the book already...I truly do appreciate your support. Once this last run sells out, I'll start the .pdf process. Really.

: )

2nd Printing of B/X Companion - COMPLETE!

I've got a big box in the trunk of my car, and it's filled with beautiful, beautiful books.

Literally...they are lovely to look at. I don't know if it's just my wide-eyed, rose-colored glasses or what, but these copies of the B/X Companion seem to look nicer than the first batch. 'Course it could just be the typos have been corrected.

But also, my printer was able to do all work in-house this time 'round...maybe the first printing lost something in the out-sourcing? Who knows. All I know is, I feel like a guy who's been running on fumes and now suddenly has a full tank of gas!

All my back-orders will be going out in the mail TOMORROW, even if I have to work through midnight addressing envelopes! My deepest, heartfelt apologies to everyone who's been waiting...and waiting...and waiting... You folks sent me your money and I've failed to deliver, and I accept full responsibility for that. But I will endeavor to not let it happen again...these books will ship!

[by the way, I had a big essay on B/X combat planned for posting but this news is too exciting not to publish. Expect the essay tomorrow morning...]

Hope it was worth the wait, folks. And again, I am so so sorry it took this long!

Too Much to Blog, Too Little Time

I don’t know what’s wrong with me. Or rather, I know what’s wrong with me (I have a completely obsessive need to write-blog-comment-write-blog-comment) but I’m not sure WHY. Is it just that I haven’t had a proper creative outlet for the last couple weeks while traveling in Spain? Is it that the two week vacation rested me enough that I’m able to better access my inner inspiration? Is there just a ton of stuff to comment on, going on around the blog-o-sphere?

Who knows? I don’t, that’s for sure. Heck, maybe I just have too much to do this week (like going back to work, and unpacking, and getting ready for a number of Very Important Family Events, not to mention following up with my printer about the new print-run of the B/X Companion), and blogging is simply a way for me to procrastinate all the “responsible things” I should REALLY be working on.

C’est la vie.

Tim Brannan (he of the many blogs and Johnny Quest-like icon) has published a dandy little write-up of Count Dracula using my B/X Companion. This has touched off a whole bunch of thoughts (for me) on both the undead AND the role of the Companion in high level play. Two completely separate subjects really, and both worthy of their own posts. However, a preview question to consider:

- Does your use of undead drop off in high level D&D play? And if so, why?


Then, of course, there’s the leprechaun, which also really deserves its own post. Which would you rather have first, folks? Faeries or the walking dead? I know, I know…it’s a tough call. Probably the leprechauns will win out (I am part Irish, after all).

In political news...well, let’s just say I hope you all are voting this November and that you’re educating yourself at least a little on what’s going on, rather than just watching attack ads from either side. I’ll leave it at that for now.

In local news…Gary’s Games in Seattle is celebrating an anniversary of some sort (Tim told me how many years, but I forget) and is celebrating by having a week of events and festivities all next week. I’ve been asked to run my Thursday night Baranof game AT Gary’s rather than the bar next door (they’ve even agreed to keep the store open a little later on my behalf…nice!) as part of the celebration. Despite their lack of cold draft beer (or any alcoholic beverages), I’ve given it the “thumbs up.” AB and I might need to get our drink on BEFORE going, but I have promised to run the game more “family friendly.”

Though if recent experience is any indication, I expect a lot of the family to die.

What else, what else…so many commentators on my pistols post giving positive kudos has led me to think I need to include firearms in my B/X game. Between SpellJammer, the 1st edition DMG, Warhammer FRP, and Mordheim, I’m pretty sure I can come up with some simple/cool rules. Will there be warplock muskets A LA the skaven? Doubtful…unless I write-up skaven for B/X (and then I’d need mutation rules, and then I’d want Chaos powers, and by that time I’d be re-writing Slaves of Darkness and The Lost and the Damned for use with Labyrinth Lord…and I’ve already got plenty on my plate).

Actually, though, it’s not a TERRIBLE idea. If the Keep on the Borderlands was set in the Norsca parts of the Auld World…no, no, that is too ambitious for right now! Not to mention definitely cruising for a bruising of the lawsuit variety (that’s a lot of Games Workshop IP!).

I would love to write more about Spain…especially as relates to Strongholds and Mass Combat. As I’m sure I’ve mentioned, Spain is littered with ancient castles and fortresses, both Christian and Islamic. Both types have something in common: beefy practicality. These are not the fantasy castles of Ludwig the Mad (sorry, Bavaria), but are squat, thick strongholds that were the sites of bloody skirmishes. They are also quite a bit bigger than the dimensions given in the D&D rulebooks (towers at the Alhambra are at least the size of “keeps”…we’re talking 60’ X 60’ square plus).

Regarding mass combat, the new Army Museum at the Alcazar in Toledo had plenty to say, including the practicality of stand-up fights on the medieval battlefield (i.e. NONE). In the “Good Old Days” the object was NOT to commit ones’ troops to a toe-to-toe fight as this would generally lead to a ton of dead men…the idea was to drive the other guys off, or intimidate them into surrendering the field, so that you could claim territory with minimum loss of force.

Which makes me feel all warm and fuzzy that I made the Morale rules a major part of my mass combat system in the B/X Companion.
; )

Let’s see…even though Spain has been a major inspiration of late, Marion Zimmer Bradley has given me even more “school for thought” (maybe…Spain IS a big country, after all). However, THAT’s going to be a two or three part post that I’m currently in the process of “cleaning up.”

Oh, yeah...any my 2nd print run should be finished by next week. Keep those orders coming!

All right, that’s enough talking ‘bout talking. Time to get to work!
: )

B/X Companion: SOLD OUT!!!

As of October 5th, 13:14 PDT, the B/X Companion has officially sold out its first print run...although, there IS still a copy down at Gary's Games in Seattle (checked this afternoon).

Since the orders continue to come in (yes, I am actually officially OVER-SOLD) I will be ordering a 2nd print run this week. The 2nd run will have corrections to certain typos (notably the word "horde" will generally be replaced with the word "hoard" in most instances) as well as adding the TM symbol to Labyrinth Lord mentioned in the Foreword.

Oh, yeah...and I'll be correcting the single actual game errata I've found in the book (the Banshee should be listed as Hit Dice: 7**...many of the books were "hand corrected" by me before being mailed).

I'd like to thank everyone who helped line my pockets and enabling the financing of a 2nd print run by buying the book...especially those first interested people who bought the thing BEFORE the reviews started coming in. I'd like to thank James Maliszewski of Grognardia for talking it up (even though he hasn't yet purchased his own copy, his review yesterday got me a score of new customers that helped put me over the top). Most especially, I'd like to thank my wonderful artists whose contributions helped make my words pretty to look at, and whose fine work transformed my scribbled thoughts into an actual honest-to-goodness game.

Of course, my family gets a shout out, too, for their love and support.

It's funny, folks...I put together a 64 page game over many months, and by no means did it make me rich nor famous...but, damn, it's immensely satisfying. Really...thanks to everyone who reads the ol' B/X Blackrazor. I hope you've found it entertaining (it's been fun for me writing it). I really, really, REALLY do plan on writing more stuff, and I hope that it is received at least half as well as the B/X Companion. THAT book was a true labor of love. I am 100% satisfied with how it turned out.

Well...except for the damn typos in the first print.

; )