(Updated and re-posted version of 1/29/12 post. Edited and expanded to reflect the current situation).
Now
that the
X-plorers rule book is in distribution, we can (I will at
least) look forward to the adventure modules! To my knowledge, the
first three that Brave Halfling is planning on right now are
ones that I've written, and I'm PUMPED to see them nearing publication
(
Cleopatra Station by the game's creator,
Dave Bezio, is already available for
free at
DriveThruRPG). I've used the 'default'
setting from the rulebook in all three missions, but of course they are simple to convert to any home-grown
setting. For all of them, I've made an effort to write in lots of
story options so you can run them several ways and have ideas for sequels. They will not be railroad plots.
To my knowledge,
The Deadly Dawn (you've seen a
mock up of the cover),
will be the first released, detailing a rescue mission where several
interesting secrets may be discovered, a significant nemesis or ally is
introduced, and some really far-out (it's a 70's-esque game, right?)
Sci-Fi madness and adventure can be enjoyed by all. The scenario can
end a few different ways and possible hooks for sequels of the Referee's
design are suggested.
Another module I wrote,
Wreck Tech,
set in the Reaches and involving lots of corporate backstabbing and,
well, exploration, is written and mapped, and is really just ready to
get art and maps and layout and stuff, so that will probably be
next(ish). This was the first one I wrote after getting excited about
X-plorers while proofing the White Box limited edition version. My
AD&D background shows, as Wreck Tech is much like a
Dungeon Crawl
(in a good way, I hope!) but the overarching plot presents the players with some interesting choices that really affect the endgame of the
mission... if your team survives!
The third module called
Letter of Marque
is 95% done. It is more of a
sandbox adventure kit than a plotted story-type module, and it really grew larger than I planned, but that's good. It's got several
neat-o options and optional rules for new stuff, and I dare say it will
be fun and useful. What's cool about Letter of Marque, is that it could
serve as a good background for the other two modules and give a Referee
lots of seeds to plant their own story ideas and go nuts. So it's sort
of a shame I thought of it last since it would make a great starting
point, but it will certainly work at any point in a campaign.
The last
5%? I came to find the mapping of the various things that need mapping
to be a challenge, and felt that all the maps were starting to look too
similar. It was writers/mappers block and earlier in the year I sent
out a distress call to the rest of the team to see if anyone wanted a
crack at designing some of the maps. I felt like a bit of a wimp. I
have some free time this week, it turns out, so I may assess the
situation and bang out whatever needs doing.
Not that you asked, but for mapping, what's
worked for us in the past is I draw the map(s) to go with the adventure on graph paper and scan it.
Then I clean it up a tad if needed with Print Shop Pro (I'm that out of
date), and email the image to John who finds a real map maker (usually
Pat at
Arcana Creations, to my knowledge) to make it presentable for publication (one exception is the hand drawn ink map I did of the cavern in
The Secret of Ronan Skerry). I've also sketched maps using Paint (yes the lame little windows app) so you can imagine how
awesome those
look before Pat fixes them. :-D I digress; the point is, by January I
had gotten Letter of Marque to a point where it was quote unquote
finished, submitted it to John, and I haven't touched it since then.
But now I'd like to make it better, and will take a stab this weekend. I
think it's going to be a while before Brave Halfling will be able to
attack it anyway, since John has his hands full with fulfillment of
Brave Halfling's
amazingly successful Kickstarter and the new
Dagger RPG for kids.
So I'm totally pumped that these three adventures of mine will be published and help X-plorers grow!
There's
also a Quickstart version of X-p that I -- what's the word; "condensed"
or "edited"? -- with a short adventure in the back that I wrote (again with crude hand sketched map that must be re-done professionally*). It's a
good intro to the full X-p experience, I think. I'm
happy with how it turned out and I hope it gets more people interested
in X-p if we can use it at some point. It was going to be for FreeRPG
day, but since the printing of the full rules wasn't done on time for
June, the decision was made to hold off on the FreeRPG day version since
there's no game book in stores for it to support.
As it stands
now, the QuickStart has info for character levels 1-3, a shortened
section on robots, simplified equipment purchasing and no spaceship
combat rules.
I wonder if changing it to 2nd level characters
only and adding single ship combat would be better? (I figure 2nd level
characters because the Soldier doesn't enjoy Weapon Specialization
until 2nd level, and I don't want any newcomers to see the Quickstart
and think Soldiers don't match up with the other classes).
There are also projects I've submitted to Arcana Creations (partners of
Brave Halfling) for the
Castles & Crusades game. The module
Hide in Plain Sight that
Pat has been blogging about
is one of mine, and it's looking good for late 2012 (I have a sequel
written and notes for three or four more if it sells. They'd make a
complete series or campaign or handsome boxed set (why not dream
big?)).
I've also written an accessory for C&C that I think
Pat is keeping close to the vest at this point. With feedback and
editing from him and John at
BHP
and several readers and brain-stormers (primarily you, Keith H), I've
turned an old thing from my high school AD&D days into a good solid
game accessory I'm proud to share with the world, and I'm grateful for
the help. If the plans haven't changed, there will be a big part
written by Pat to serve as a second half to it, so the book will be a
real value and a great tool.
I'm continuing work on Castles & Crusades Oriental Adventures, to be published by
Troll Lord Games
itself. I hope to have a manuscript completed by this time next year,
but honestly, since this is my largest writing project to date and I
work full time and have a kid, I remain cautious against making
predictions. The book is outlined, I have the classes and races nearly
complete and am working on monsters and will address the magic spell
lists next (unless something else piques my interest first). I keep
adding notes to whatever section if inspiration hits (oh, that would be a neat
magic item (scribbles on post it)... hey, a new shinobi spell (scribble)...). I have the martial arts section sort of blocked out, though far from
finalized.... so I'd say the first draft is about 1/3 done so far.
For
the monsters, I'm trying to draw inspiration from various Asian
mythologies (or the Wikipedia articles about the mythologies, though
I've been busy at the library too) rather than SRD stuff (of course several would be sorely missed if absent, so I'm converting them to C&C stats). Two reasons:
1) TLG had some headaches with Classic Monsters related to the SRD/OGL
and 2) to seize the opportunity to make it my own, and give players a
fresh gaming experience, where I can. This could be (will probably be) my only publication
from a major publisher, so why play it safe? I want to make my mark
and I don't want anyone to read the monsters and feel like, "whatever. I
could have converted that from my old books on the fly." (of course,
the beauty of it is, you still could, and totally surprise your
players!)
Naturally, I'm adding new monsters of my own creation
for the same reason, as well as monsters from Chinese and other
non-Japanese Asian cultures since that's always been a common complaint that the OA
books, that they focus too tightly on Japanese culture and mythology.
One more thing: I'm writing it with both
"foreign" AND "English" names for (nearly) everything; so you could have your
Ashigaru wear a haramaki with his kote and sune-ate, fight with a yari
or an eku and defeat a vile Jikiniki... (head spinning yet?)
... or ...
Your
Footman can wear a belly shield with his armored sleeves and shin
guards, fight with a spear or a fighting oar and defeat a vile Fear-Drinker
(a type of Hungry Ghost).
I think however, that "ninja" and "samurai" and even "ronin" are ok untranslated since everyone knows what they are. Yamabushi or Xia on the other hand... I don't want people to have to open the book and look up what every piece of armor is just to try to have a conversation in character, you know what I mean?
This will not be a historically accurate book: it will be a mish-mash of fun drawn from many sources (Samurai lore and
Ninja Legends
to Kung Fu movies, research into many other Asain cultures) to make a
flavorful fantasy game. For me, historical accuracy has always been a non-issue in my FRPGs. Of course a game tailored to be more historically accurate has it's merits and is fun for those who like it. But I'm not concerned about it for C&COA because, I mean, really, how historically accurate is
C&C or D&D? Using the equipment tables, an ostensibly medieval knight of vaguely European bent, who is half elven, may wear armor from the 12th century and fight with a weapon from the 14th, facing a cyclops (ancient Greece) or a kobold (Germany) or a rust monster (made up from a silly little 1970's Japanese toy) or an illithid (Cthulhu much?) or even something really frickin' weird like a beholder (what an imagination!). Oh, and there's magic.
I've always felt it's stronger for it.
* see two of my bad maps in the
One page Dungeon Contest entries
2012: Goblin Well (frankly, not my best effort; I almost missed the deadline and basically pulled an all-nighter)
2011: The Mad Arcitect's Tomb (This one I actually like a lot, though one secret underground passage doesn't look like it lines up right)
[panic] Please note: Both of these SUCK compared to the real modules I wrote for C&C and X-plorers! [/panic]
Finally, Apropos of Nothing, I must say,
THIS IS AWESOME!
