There is a lot going on this week. I just finished watching the season finale of Rebels, so I will not be talking about that today. I mean, Rebels Recon has an even been posted yet. Suffice to say that you probably don't want to put off watching this one. Nexus of Power arrived so I will be talking a bit about that. I'll be putting it to good use this weekend at GamerNation Con, run by d20 Radio and the Order 66 podcast. And, just because I don't have enough to do between work and the convention and getting ready for the convention, I'll be making an appearance on a new (for me) podcast. I don't think they record it with a live audience, so I will post the link when it's available.
As is often the case when a new title is released, I was working on Nexus of Power exactly a year ago. Most RPG books take about that long to get through the entire writing, editing, art, and approvals process. I've seen a few pushed through in less time, but it's not often. What's interesting about the timing in this case, was the fact that Star Wars Celebration occurred not long after and had a couple of reveals that had Keith Kappel and I sending notes back to Sam Stewart at FFG about some of the implications.
My contributions this time are divided into different parts the book. I wrote three planets in Chapter 1: Devaron, Iktotch, and a brand new world of my own creation called Auratera. For the vergences/locations in Chapter 2, I also had three. I got to take on the Dagobah tree cave and talk about concepts of Adventuring in the Tree again.
The Eedit temple section proved to be one of those entries where someone else in the grand scheme of Star Wars storytelling is operating in the same space at the same time. There's always a challenge with trying to discern the right tone or path or story with a bare minimum of information available. Slight spoiler alert - it became obvious a few months later that the other product was The Weapon of a Jedi novella, written by friend and baseball aficionado Jason Fry.
To go along with my new world of Auretera, I got to create a new vergence known as the Acablas Ruins. It's a fun and challenging out-of-the-way place that I will reveal nothing about here, as the process of discovery should be a key storytelling element. I had a great deal of fun with the layout and the surrounding environment. I've taken the opportunity in previous projects to use unusual natural or geological features as a setting, and did so again here.
However, those who may be attending GamerNation Con this weekend will almost certainly get a chance, but we'll see how well they do. Maybe I'll talk about that next week. Anyway, I'll be at the convention Friday evening through Sunday and my schedule is not at all set or in the system. It's been that kind of year so far. At this point, I'll be lucky to have the characters finished thanks to becoming inspired to do something that will hopefully be a lot of fun, but coming up with it at the last minute. I have characters I can use, but I'd like to refine them to fit the idea a lot better. We'll see.