It’s November, which always brings a convention and often an end of the year project or two, and this year is no exception. There usually seems to be one or more previews of upcoming or soon to be released works, and that too is on schedule.
Read Moresavage worlds
Guest at Midwest GameFest This Weekend
I’ll be one of the special guests at Midwest GameFest this weekend November 1st thru the 4th in Independence, MO (Kansas City metro area). I’ll be running Star Wars RPGs, as well as a little Savage Worlds Flash Gordon, Numenera, and the latest version of Paranoia. I’m also hosting seminars on writing RPGs and cartography. Preregistration event sign up has passed, but there are still plenty of space available to sign up on site. Click here for events and schedules.
The Last Parsec: Pranac Pursuit Now Available on Fantasy Grounds
I'm pleased to announce that Pranac Pursuit, my adventure for The Last Parsec setting for the Savage Worlds roleplaying game is now available on Fantasy Grounds (The Virtual Tabletop for Pen and Paper Roleplaying Games). Pranac Pursuit joins four other Last Parsec titles already available on Fantasy Grounds. The adventure requires the Savage Worlds core rules and the Science Fiction Companion Setting rules (but not The Last Parsec core setting rules).
I converted the adventure to Fantasy Grounds myself. It includes all of the text, art, and maps originally provided in the PDF version, plus new tokens for the NPCs. Encounters are linked to the text, and the maps have pins linked to each encounter or other elements on the map. There are screenshots in the Fantasy Grounds catalog listing.
This is my second Fantasy Grounds conversion, the first being my D&D 5e Adventurers League adventure, Drums in the Marsh (Tyranny of Dragons story line). It is available on DMs Guild, where it recently achieved Platinum Best Seller status.
Star Wars Wednesday - A Big Map Game
Last weekend's Midwest GameFest was a success. The new venue and setup worked well, and though there are always things to improve upon, it went very well. I kept very busy, as I was slated to do something every slot. It didn't always happen - they had the D&D Adventurers League tables covered so I didn't end up running AL. That wasn't a bad thing, though, since I was still putting aspects of my other games together. I'd been derailed by work, a freelance deadline, and the Royals great playoff run. I ran a session of Numenera, a couple of Savage Worlds The Last Parsec, and a couple of different Star Wars RPG adventures. I also participated in a couple of panels and wrapped up with an Aethercon panel on Sunday. More on that later. For the Star Wars RPG games, though, I tried a few new ideas...
Read MoreStar Wars Wednesday - GenCon 2015
I briefly thought about just making last week's post "GENCON!" and moving on...but I didn't even get a moment for that. It's been a busy and fun few weeks...and it's not over yet.
Read MoreStar Wars Wednesday - Comics and More
This is one of those days when the Star Wars world, or fandom I suppose, is all stirred up from an unexpected revelation in one of the ongoing storylines. No spoilers here, but it will be interesting for a while... Anyway, there seems to be a variety of comics related news this week.
Read MoreStar Wars Wednesday - A Week of Announcements
It's been quite a week so far, and it's only Wednesday, and there is much more to come. It's one of those times when the stars align and bunch of stuff is announced at once. Also, I'm really glad I didn't get a chance to write this last night, given that one of the announcements is today. So what's up? A released adventure, a new announced title, and I'll be at a convention this weekend and next. Fun times. Pranac Pursuit Releases to Kickstarter Backers
Tonight, Pinnacle Entertainment Group released my adventure Pranac Pursuit for the Savage Worlds RPG setting The Last Parsec to last year's kickstarter backers. It looks great.
As members of Jumpcorp, your team is assigned to find out what happened to a Jumpcorp scout ship that went missing months ago in the unexplored Pranac star system. It's a sci-fi exploration adventure complete with new aliens and unexpected happenings.
Enjoy.
Star Wars Wednesday - A Royal Delay
This week's excuse for a late post is pretty good...my local MLB team, the Kansas City Royals, made the postseason for the first time in 29 years. Its more than a bit distracting at the moment - and they are winning so far, and had a weird but awesome game to start it all off. I thought about skipping the post at this point, but it's the debut of Star Wars Rebels tonight, and as you may have guessed, I am already a big fan of the show. So here are another quick few items that I would have normally expanded on.
Read MoreStar Wars Wednesday - Did Someone Say Parsec?
I'm on the road this week, with a work trip to Arizona. Flying over the southwest landscape does wonders for new terrain setting ideas. Trips also tend to keep the blog posts short. This is partly due to typing on a phone, and partly due to the blog interface and the host's inadequate android app and web-phone interface battles.
Read MoreThe Last Parsec Kickstarter Launch
The Last Parsec Savage Worlds RPG setting kickstarter took off to a fantastic start yesterday. It funded in an hour. It is blazing thru stretch goals, which is great because at the 40k level, the backers get my adventure, Pranac Pursuit. The setting is sci-fi exploration, partly inspired in style by the old Star Frontiers RPG. Jump in to Jumpcorp today!
Star Wars Wednesday - GenCon 2014
in Conventions, D&D, Star Wars Wed., awards
Last week was GenCon 2014. As usual, I didn't have time to post, or even the time to prepare a post beforehand. It was a fantastic convention, and record setting at 56,614 attendees, up from last year's 49,000 or so. The dealer hall was even bigger than past years, and I had the least amount of time to see it this year. I had few things going on, and a few things were announced...
Read MoreStar Wars Wednesday - 2012 End of the Year Grab Bag Blog Post
Well, 2012 was an exceptionally interesting and unexpected year for Star Wars and Star Wars gaming. The design and release of the new Star Wars RPG from FFG. Lucasfilm going to Disney. Celebration VI. New movies on the way, and Clone Wars moving right along. I could go on, but most fans know it, and there are far better sources out there.
Instead, this end of the year grab bag blog post is going to feature links to Star Wars RPG related sites - new, old and still active.
GenCon 2010 Wrap up
in Conventions, D&D
The Return of the D&D Red BoxGenCon 2010 flew by quickly. I had a good time (aside from my wife falling an injuring herself).
Our Star Wars Saga Edition Retrospective was full, with about 50 attendees. It was entertaining. We had a lot of good questions, though not really any rules questions, which was somewhat surprising. The panel was also large, with myself, Owen KC Stephens, Gary Sarli, Christopher West, Gary Astleford, Patrick Stutzman, and T Rob Brown. Rodney Thompson and Chris Perkins were interested, but other commitments prevented them from coming (or arriving in time).
Among the new items announced at the Dungeons and Dragons Preview seminar was my first D&D 4e print product, Monster Vault: Threats to the Nentir Vale. Can't say much yet other than it's a box set with a book, tokens and poster maps. Also met my fellow authors in person for the first time (Matt James, Brian James and Steven Townshend). Click here for a picture of the cover.
The Rebellion Era Campaign Guide did not win an ENnie for Best Supplement, but the awards show was entertaining. Congratulations to the winners.
I found some time to run a Star Wars Saga Edition game for a few friends and introduce it to them. They ended up hunting down the books in the dealer's hall before the show was over. I've had this sort of reaction most of the time when I run a Saga Editon game at a con, which is a lot of fun.
For those who have asked if the Saga Edition books are more or less expensive now that the line is over, I will have to say....both. Depends on the book. I've seen Force Unleashed for as cheap as $10, others at cover price or up to $20 more. Kotor and Starships of the Galaxy remain impossible to find. I saw really good prices on the minis and maps, though.
I played in Savage Saturday Night, Pinnacle Entertainment Group's Savage Worlds RPG open gaming night. Ended up in a Ravaged Earth setting game (by Savage Worlds licensee Reality Blurs) with its creator, Eric Avedissian. They had well over 100 people, and twice what they expected to show. I think most everyone got into a game, however. It was interesting to see huge variety of settings now available for one system being played in a single room.
As usual, I also attended several seminars and meetings, among which was one on the new Gamma World RPG from Wizards. As an old-time Gamma World fan, I'm looking forward to this one. It's humoursly presented and though it's 4e compatible, it has a lot of its own unique design elements.
I also pursued new freelancing opportunities in writing and cartography, caught up with old friends and met a few new ones along the way.
Next, prepping for Star Wars Celebration V...