First of all, as you can see from the featured image on this post, things on the art front have moved along very nicely since my last post! And, there’s much more where this came from, but as you may have noticed, at this early stage I’m playing my cards relatively close to the chest.
That will be changing. I am not prepared to say when, but if you read on, you’ll at least see how.
You’ll have noticed I’ve been slow about updating this site. I’ve also done very little to promote it apart from my presence at the GAMA Trade Show (which I assume is the reason my hits are quickly trending up despite the lack of activity – thanks, and feel free to say “hi”!). Promotion, including maintaining this site, has not been my main focus in the last month or so.
I learned a lot at the GAMA Trade Show, some of it from formal presentations, but at least as much from conversations with other publishers. (Of these, I’d like to especially call out Tammie, Stan! and Charles at the Monte Cook Games booth, who were extraordinarily helpful and encouraging.) One key decision I made, based on this influx of new information, is that the best way to get some serious buzz going around this project is to let you, the general public, get your hands on a complete, playtestable rulebook. This will not be the finished product, but needs to be, if not fully professional, at least presentable.
This is a goal I am maybe 70% of the way to achieving. Don’t get me wrong, the most important pieces – character creation, and the core mechanics, including everything you need for 90% of battles – have been solidly in place for months. However, surrounding material that is only slightly less important, such as gear and skill descriptions, still needs a lot of work. Much of it exists only in rough notes or “oral tradition” among myself and my gaming groups. That will no longer do!
So I need to – really, it’s not so much “need to” as “get to”! – focus on the creative end of this project for a while. I’ll probably do the odd update here, and will definitely tweak the look and features of the site some, but the main focus will be on writing the first complete drafts of the Core Rulebook and Character Guide – two of the three books the Origins Set will contain. Even put together, these two books will be significantly smaller than, say, the average Pathfinder hardcover, but they still represent a lot of material. At the size I’m aiming for, they will narrowly edge out my Master’s thesis as the longest piece of writing I’ve done.
Once that’s done, it will be available to the general public in some form. I haven’t made a final decision on what that form will be yet. One possibility would be making it available in .pdf through DriveThruRPG and its affiliates for a nominal fee. In the unlikely event that I make print copies of the playtest rules available beyond my immediate gaming circle, it would be on a print-on-demand basis. This will not be a product anyone would mistake for the gorgeous boxed set that will make up the final release, but it will be complete and playable and probably available a lot sooner. It will also definitely be a good deal cheaper, maybe even free.
So, that’s something big for you to look forward to. Meanwhile, enjoy Sheldon’s depiction of some of the pregenerated characters the game will come with taking a little break at the edge of the world!