Friday, December 04, 2009

Death's Door being discontinued.

I'm discontinuing Death's Door. It's had a good long run, and I've gotten what I wanted out of it as a designer and a publisher. Rather than carry the stock as a cost into another fiscal year, I'm selling off what's left, and if it's not gone by Dec 31, it's getting destroyed.

Which is to say: If you want it, get it now, because you'll not otherwise find it.

It's been marked down to $8.00 USD everywhere I sell it. IPR has about a dozen left, and I have a few at Blank Shield Press as well. I'd appreciate it if you go through IPR by preference; Ideally that stock will just sell out, and they won't need to ship anything back to me.

James

Labels: pimping my stuff, publishing

Monday, June 22, 2009

The Martin Thompson Story

An excerpt from Reality Cops. This is a fiction snippet, and about 95% of the setting material that is not generated at the table. Most of the setting for the game is created in a brain-storming session at the beginning of the game, with the rest happening on-the-fly during play.

The Martin Thompson Story

Phase Theory

On March 6th, in the year 2217, Martin Thompson applied a revolutionary combination of mind theory and chemical science, to discover that ours is not the only world. He learned that certain minds, under certain conditions, could be made to shift their perception into other realities. Other worlds. Some of these worlds are much like ours, some are very different. He called these alternate realities phases of existence, and proposed that when a mind transitioned between them, the phases met and touched at that single point, much like soap bubbles floating in air. And like those bubbles, they proved fragile, some more so than others. In early experiments, three volunteers were driven insane when the communal phase they occupied broke under the pressure.

On December 9th 2219, Martin Thompson died, went insane, and disappeared, in approximately that order. This was the first recorded incidence of reality subversion.

Transition Threat

From the very early phases of Thompson’s investigations, it was clear that minds in transition could influence, to varying degrees, the phase they moved to. Investigation of his death and subsequent insanity showed that minds in transition and only minds in transition could also influence this reality. Assimilating known history with Thompson’s model showed clear mathematical indications that, at various points through recorded history, reality had been warped. Sometimes it gradually returned to its “normal” shape, sometimes the change became permanent.

Work in other phases had already shown that a strongly focused mind could cause shifts in the structure of that phase. It was theorized that a sufficiently focused individual could, through the connection between the alternate phase and reality, cause shifts in the structure of reality.

Panic spread. In some places, phase researchers were hunted by mobs, blamed for every little thing. In others, they were lifted up like gods, and viewed as the only ones who could save reality. It is from the seeds of this second set that the awareness of a moral imperative to maintain our reality arose. This awareness, combined with a fluke discovery is what led to the eventual formation of the Phase Research and Reality Maintenance Division, commonly known as Reality Cops.

The Burke Dynamic

In the chaos and panic following widespread awareness of reality subversions, many of the organizations researching phases of existence no longer had the luxury of carefully controlled experiments and volunteers were less carefully screened. In late 2223, this resulted in Carmen Burke entering transition while suffering from acute appendicitis. Carmen's account of how simple it was to affect the phase was initially discounted as simply a misconception, but transition recordings and later, further controlled experimentation bore out the testimony.

A mind that entered transition while experiencing pain was better able to affect the phase it entered.

This was the breakthrough that allowed the Reality Cops to effectively carry out their mandate.

Strictly voluntary, the Division gained in credibility and effectiveness until it was an accepted and necessary part of life for more than a generation.

It had been more than twenty years since the last reality subversion.

The Second Thompson Subversion

July 12, 2262. A deranged man breaks into Division Headquarters and transitions illegally. The man dies moments later, without leaving the phase of existence he had transitioned into. Phase researchers become aware that another reality subversion has occurred. As best can be determined, the subversion had two main effects. First, and most obvious, entering transition no longer required complex equipment. Second, and more complex in its effects, was that the Burke Dynamic no longer drew exclusively from an individual's own pain, but was affected by the pain of those around them.

Post-subversion DNA testing indicates the man was, in fact, Martin Thompson. This is not, however, viewed as conclusive evidence.

The year is 2265. You are a Reality Cop.

Labels: pimping my stuff, publishing, Reality Cops

Monday, May 04, 2009

Endeavours

So, deciding to update around here a little more often; we'll have to see how long that lasts... Oh, Facebook, my languishing blog envies you so.

Reality Cops is my current project, and the two-fold goal is this:
1) To have an ashcan at Gencon
2) To have premie/promo ashcans done by Go Play NorthWest, to distribute among that group, and hopefully generate some play and buzz in the lead-up to con season.

I think I'm on track for this. Text is pretty much done, barring an editing pass or three, so I'm starting to shop around for someone to do the ashcan artwork. Layout will start soon, too. Reminder to self: Harrass Adobe for my new version of InDesign that I paid for.

James

Labels: pimping my stuff, publishing, Reality Cops

Tuesday, April 01, 2008

Izza Poll!

...Because that's what weblog authors do when they're short on content and desperate for feedback!

So, I played Death's Door with Ben Lehman and Jake Richmond at Gamestorm, and it went really, really well. It wasn't "awesome" because one of our Boundaries was "Do not Bring The Awesome" - short hand for keep it real; no action-adventure bullshit. But if not for that caveat, you could describe it as awesome.

In post game chat, we talked about the little scraps of paper that people use to scribble what they want to do before they die, and what happens to them. Right now, they are all saved. Yes, all of them. Could you throw out someone else's dream?

Which means that, on the corner of my desk, I have a ever-growing pile of other people's hopes and dreams - and let me tell you, that is a seriously motivating thing to be responsible for.

But it's a touch selfish to hold that too close, I think. Ben suggested I should do something with them, and I agreed, but ran into the same thing I keep running into when I think about it: What?

So, a poll.

A) Keep them selfishly to myself.
B) Make a new weekly blog catagory "Hopes and Dreams" and post a few every week.
C) Make a new weekly blog catagory "Hopes and Dreams" and post one each week, with some discussion.
D) Load them into some kind of funky java applet and have a spot on the website that has "Somebody out there wants to..." and fade/cycle them through that.
E) Make some kind of craft art or scrapbooky thing.
F) Something else.

Reply in comments with your thoughts, if you agree with any, or have variations, or other ideas. I trust you, internet.

James

Labels: I think too much, pimping my stuff

Tuesday, January 22, 2008

Grark!

Can't blog, madly prepping for Dreamation.

In related news, IPR is down to single digit stock levels on all my products, so I need to do a restock. Cool!

James

Labels: pimping my stuff, publishing

Tuesday, November 27, 2007

Note to self:

James: IPR has sold out of Brick Battles. Go make more.

thanks,

me.

Labels: pimping my stuff, publishing

Friday, November 23, 2007

Googley Goodness

Hunh. Every once in a while, I'll google my games, just to see where they're falling and if there's any new discussion of them, or whatever.

It's kind of funky. All of my games are front pages results for searches on the title.

"blank shield" - Blank Shield Press is pretty close to the top (#4) when you run this (and pops right to the top as soon as you combine it with anything like game), which hasn't been the case in times past.

"blood and bronze" - I'm not stunningly suprised with results for Blood and Bronze - it's a unique-ish name, although having the top result is gratifying.

"brick battles" - Oddly enough, the BSP page for Brick Battles is no where to be found in the first several pages of links. However, the top 4 results are all different site results for BB - Board Game Geek, Brickwars, brickwiki and IPR. So that's cool. I also found a bunch of indications of actual play. Sweet!

"death's door" - this is the one that really blew my socks off. See, 'death's door' is a stunningly common phrase. Like, not just out there in general, but also in gaming circles - apparantly it's the whole "being at zero hit points" term for D&D and a bunch of other games. And there's a D20 supplement/module called "At Death's Door" and a couple other things. And there's a flash or java game or something like that splattered all across the 'net. And a movie called 'At Death's Door'. And a couple mainstream books published called "Death's Door". Not to mention the Gaimen "Death: At Death's Door" comic. When I did this search a couple years ago, the first mention of my game was buried about 15 pages deep in Google. Today? Result #3. Combine it with "rpg" or "game" actually drops it down in the ratings. Very, very cool.

Neat.

James

Labels: pimping my stuff, publishing

Sunday, August 12, 2007

Gencon!

So, now that I've lollyblogged my way into no readers, here's an update.

I'm getting on a plane for Gencon on Tuesday (technically 00:30 Wednesday) for Gencon Indy 07. I'm really looking forward to this year. I'm not running any Brick Battles events, which frees up my luggage and my time, and I'm table custodian at least once at the Games On Demand area. It's unfortunatly way far away from the dealer's hall, but conveniently downstairs from our hotel room, so I may end up spending more of my time there than I might otherwise. Which is good, becuase - hey, games - on demand.

Evenings will again be spent gaming in the lounge/open area at the Embassy Suites, and I hope to get in lots of good gaming this year. The night that is the exception is Wednesday, which I'm spending getting interviewed again for Theory from the Closet, which should be interesting. This time out, it's less about me and my stuff, and more about game design/theory in general. I'm not sure when I became an authority in this stuff; someone must have pinned a note to my back while I wasn't looking.

My days are going to be taken up in the Dealer's Hall, as I'm again with the forge booth - this time as a primary sponser. As best I can tell so far, that means I shell out more money, earlier, and get a bit more weight when I bitch about things. :)

Blood and Bronze IS ready, and there will be a good stock of regular editions, as well as five of the handcrafted Without Peer! editions. From the rumblings I've heard, I kinda wish I had more, but it was not in the cards - handcrafting is time consuming, and as you may have guessed from my last couple posts, I've been a touch busy.

Labels: Blood and Bronze, geekery, pimping my stuff, publishing

Tuesday, June 05, 2007

Some days I'm slower than others...

So, one of the things I've been stumbling over is whenever I talk about Blood and Bronze, and the two versions coming out, I haven't had a good shorthand name for the fancy version. I'm calling it "the one with the hand-hammered bown and metal tokens and round rules and playaids and..." which is good for description, not so good for naming conventions.

Today, I realized the answer was staring me in the face the whole time. I am releasing Blood and Bronze in two editions. Regular and Without Peer!

Labels: Blood and Bronze, pimping my stuff

Monday, May 07, 2007

Interview with a Game Designer

I'm a game designer. Who knew? Any, the excellent Clyde Rhoer ofTheory From the Closet cornered me at Forge Midwest a few weeks ago, and sat me in front of a microphone. I had my revenge, though - nobody warned Clyde that I don't know how to shut up.

Anyway, it's a really excellent interview, although, due to the aformentioned "don't know how to shut up" also quite long. Clyde asked some very insightful questions, and really drew me out about some of the thinking and reasoning behind my games.

Check it out. Also check out his other interviews from Forge Midwest. Aside from little ol' me, he managed to corral Ron Edwards, Luke Crane, and Paul Czege.

James

Labels: Blood and Bronze, geekery, pimping my stuff, publishing

Monday, March 12, 2007

Now Taking Pre-orders

Hi folks,

Now taking pre-orders for TANSTAAFL T-shirts at $20 per. If you want one, post a comment with size preference. Plain black T's, with TANSTAAFL in white block lettering on the front, and small-text "www.blankshieldpress.com" on the left sleeve. T-shirt only, no babydolls this time around, unless I get lots of requests.

I need enough pre-orders to convince me I won't lose money, otherwise the shirts don't get ordered. TANSTAAFL.

James

Labels: geekery, pimping my stuff, publishing