Star Crossed Musing

So there's a game I've been working on (or rather, it's been simmering on the back burner) for *mumble* years now. It's a cyberpunk game called Daedalus. You see, I wrote a setting way back in the 2000s for a company called Guardians of Order, which was published in their Ex Machina book -- there were four cyberpunk settings and mechanics for their system. My setting, the aforementioned Daedalus, was pretty kindly regarded, and I was pretty proud of it. When GoO folded, I got the rights back in lieu of payment for other debts, and we called it good. Cue Life. (Life enters, pursued by a bear.) Time passes, as it does, and in the interim I lived in Seattle and did a whole bunch of work for various other people and finished my bachelors degree. Then I moved to Cleveland, went to grad school, got married, and finished my doctorate. Gosh, it sounds so simple when I say it like that. Anyway, in the midst of all that, my husband Matthew and I started our own game compa...

So, I forgot to mention. If you're interested in the games that my game company puts together, we're going to be at both Origins and Gen Con this year. We'll be at the Indie Game Developer Network booth at both cons, as well as running games. I'm running a one game of A Tragedy in Five Acts: All My Circuits edition at Origins (check the on-site book), and then I'm running two sessions of A Western Tragedy in Five Acts at Gen Con, Thursday at 10AM and then 6PM. There are still tickets open for the 10AM game . In addition, we've got games of Chill 3rd Edition going on, and even a couple of curse the darkness games that Matt's running. Also also, we've got the long-awaited SAVE: The Eternal Society book nearly out the door, coming to you this summer in print and PDF! Let me know if you have questions -- see you there!

Day 5: Most Recent RPG Purchase So, it isn't a full RPG, but it's for a game I've been semi-consistently running for a few years now. The Paranet Papers is the third book for the Dresden Files RPG, to be supplemented maybe next year with the Fate Accelerated update to the game. I'm personally tremendously interested in the update and any help the Paranet Papers would provide to the magic system, as that's still the clunkiest aspect of the whole thing. I'm also give to understand there's a fan conversion to Fate Core that works like a champ in the Fate Codex, and I'm excited about that. It's on my list to look at sooner rather than later. Of course, it should be noted that while I picked this up at GenCon, it's hardly the only thing we bought. It is the thing that was the most "mine," though. The runner-up is Clockwork Dominion , which has made me squee upon a brief perusal. I'm looking forward to getting more into it.

GenCon's next week, and I'm going to be there! I'm wearing a few different hats this year: Co-owner of Growling Door Games, Convention Coordinator of IGDN, and manager of GenCon's very first quiet room, located in ICC 237! However busy I'll be, though, I'd love to say hello to people and talk to them (and possibly sell you some games). So, want to find me at GenCon? Here's where you should look! Wednesday, July 30th IGDN Social! -- We'll be at Loughmiller's Pub from 6:00 to 9:00, with special drinks just for the group. The menu will be available to our guests (or to take out) during that time, and we'll have drink tickets ($5 each, each one worth 2 drinks). Come on down! Thursday, July 31st IGDN Booth! (#734, beside IPR) -- I'll be at the booth bright and early to kick off the exhibit hall opening and there on and off through the day. Clue: A Tragedy in Five Acts -- 8:00 PM, Marriott Downtown, Ballroom 7. I'll be running ...

So I managed to make it to 50 posts! While I'm not posting daily, I'm posting semi-regularly, and that's something in and of itself. Today's post, then, is sort of a general update. 1) GenCon is done. We did well (I won't say we made money on the con as a whole), but we offset a decent portion of our expenses. We sold through nearly all the stock we brought -- we might have sold more had we been more ambitious about bringing material, but then we might have had to carry stuff home, too, so it worked out. I had a great time, my kids had a great time, and all is well on that front. And now on to Chill, 3rd Edition. *grin* 2) Classes start today. We got glowing reviews from the summer course I co-taught, so I'm thrilled with that. I've got Latin this afternoon but that's the only class I'm taking -- so long as I can order my books today, I'll be fine. 3) I've got a ton of studying and writing to do. No really. You don't even want to kn...

So I did day 1, and then GenCon happened, so now I'm doing a recap, because seriously. There's not enough time in the world. Friday: So Friday was a big booth day for me. I spent most of my day there meeting people and selling stuff. Seriously, we had a great booth that had very little downtime for the whole con -- I'm thrilled with the Indie Game Showcase and how successful it was. In the afternoon, I left the booth and went to a panel on "Intro to RPG Design" run by Mark Richardson, whose game Headspace is currently being playtested with an eye to release soonish. Very pretty, I have to say. Anyway, the panel was well attended and well received. We were able to give some suggestions on moving from idea to design and design to game. I think we may have been too broad in terms of what people might have expected to be covered, but it worked out well and people said they appreciated it. Following the panel, though, I had to high-tail it over to the JW. We all ...

So Matt and the boys and I drove out to GenCon on Wednesday, getting here a day ahead of the official start so we could set up the booth and attend Trade Day and represent the Indie Games Showcase! for the con. Getting it set up was the usual mix of Victory! and frustration, so that was about par for the course. I did kiss a guy on the cheek for bringing me a bottle of water, though. Thursday morning we head over bright and early to finish setting up the booth -- it takes a village and people with more coffee than I'd had, but we get it running, and then I spent most of the day there. Once we had it going... well, we had a really good day. Thursdays are normally a decent day, but today was crowded like no Thursday I'd seen before. The hall was packed and not just in a huge queue for the one big thing, but in a lot of lines for a lot of cool things, and then also wandering around. The Indie Games Showcase (#1539) is our booth, and by our I mean Indie Game Designers Network, ...

Si says hello. So, for those who would like to find me at GenCon, I'll be working at the IGDN booth most of the time, which is Booth #1539. Come by and say hello! In addition, I'll be on two panels: How to Learn RPG Design: Friday August 15th at 4PM-5PM, Crowne Plaza Union Station in room Pennsylvania Station C. Looking to get into designing RPGs? Curious about what you need to know? This panel will help you get started! Join Jason Pitre and other Independent Game Design Network members to talk about learning what you need to know to work on RPGs! GMing as Women: Saturday August 16, 10am-11am, in the Crowne Plaza Union Station in room Pennsylvania Station C. Are you a woman? Do you GM or are you thinking about doing so? This panel of women GMs will answer your questions and help you get a handle on how to deal with GMing challenges, large and small. Come on down! Please note that both panels are currently sold out, so that means that standing room/sitting on the...

So, my husband Matt has an ongoing character creation project in which he wants to make a character for every roleplaying game he owns. As he is a collector of games and PDFs count, he will never be finished. That's beside the point, however. I occasionally join him in this endeavor. Game: Better Angels, by Greg Stolze Publisher: Arc Dream Degree of Familiarity: I played a demo of it at GenCon, haven't really read it, but looked over Matt's shoulder now and again while he did. The demo had pregen characters so this will be my first foray into making one. Books Required: Just the core. Step One: Your Human.  So, Better Angels is a game in which people get possessed by both demons and angels, and that's where superpowers come from. People possessed by angels get to be superheros. People possessed by demons end up as supervillains. There are some downsides, of course. No one gets asked if that's what they want before they're possessed by a demon, and o...

So I'm back from GenCon. I am exhausted, but if I don't write down the things in my head now I'll completely space it, and I'm already behind enough on this blog as it is. 1) The IGDN booth was largely my con-home-base during exhibit hall hours, and I think things there went really well. I'm excited to see the final sales number tally and there are refinements and improvements to process that can be made, but overall I'm very pleased with how everything played out. Also, it was great to meet so many of the other IGDN folks in person. 2) The Embassy Suites was a mixed bag of a hotel for us. It is unlikely we'll stay there by choice again, even as I clearly acknowledge that nothing was terrible in and of itself and it could have been far worse. The lack internet access that wasn't prohibitively expensive figures heavily into this equation, however (not even in the public spaces), and the free printing in the business center isn't enough to make up ...