The day many undoubtedly believed would never arrived is
finally here! The sequel to the original Stonehell Dungeon: Down Night-Haunted
Halls is available for purchase via Lulu in both hardcopy and PDF.
Stonehell Dungeon: Into the Heart of Hell is the
long-awaited sequel to Stonehell Dungeon: Down Night-Haunted Halls. This book
contains the final five dangerous levels of the titanic megadungeon, revealing
Stonehell’s most terrifying secrets. Stonehell Dungeon: Into the Heart of Hell
contains almost 600 dungeon rooms filled with monsters, traps, and treasure for
the players to explore, more than 70 unique monsters to challenge them, and 13
new magical items to mystify them. This book also contains complete information
on the dungeon’s sinister master, the nixthisis, and full details on the
mysterious chthonic substance known as Vaedium.
Stonehell Dungeon: Into the Heart of Hell is part of the
Stonehell Dungeon series of adventures detailing a classic-style megadungeon
intended for use with the Labyrinth Lord™ role-playing game, but easily
adaptable to most early versions of the original fantasy role-playing game and
its retro-clones. Stonehell Dungeon gives the game master all the necessary
information to run his players through the dungeon, while offering enormous
opportunities to customize and expand on the site.
This is not a stand-alone product. Stonehell Dungeon: Down
Night-Haunted Halls is required to get the full use out of this adventure
supplement.
Truth in Advertising Disclaimer: There are less than a dozen
instances in the printed version of this supplement where the numeral “7” is
distorted due to Lulu’s printing methods. Despite numerous efforts to resolve
the issue, it persists. The distortion doesn’t affect the usability of the supplement,
but if this minor glitch might impact your enjoyment of the book, please
consider purchasing the PDF edition.
In the darkness, the dead dream. What was believed held in
Death’s firm embrace rouses itself in the night-haunted halls and gloomy
chambers deep under the earth.
On Fourth of July weekend, I’ll be heading across the mighty Hudson River
to the hinterlands of Northern New Jersey for DEXCON, specifically to take
part in OSWARP (Old School Wargames and Role-Playing) mini-convention. It will
be playtests galore as I bring the first two parts of The Four Phantasmagorias DCC RPG adventure series to the table, and
the second playtest of my upcoming METAMORPHOSIS ALPHA adventure. Event
registration is now live, so if you’re in the tri-state area and looking for
some Old-School gaming (and are free Fourth of July weekend), consider coming
on down.
In addition to my own humble presence with DCC RPG and MA, old-school games
such as D6 Star Wars, classic Traveller, Swords & Wizardry, Stars Without
Number, OD&D, AD&D, Adventures Dark & Deep, Call of Cthulhu, and
Champions are on tap, as are a bevy of new school games and classic wargames. I’m
still hashing out the details of my weekend, but I’ll certainly be around for
Thursday, Friday, and part of Saturday.
Here’s the scoop on what I’m running:
R0235:
Dungeon Crawl Classics; "The First Phantasmagoria" presented by
Michael Curtis. An OLD SCHOOL Game - Part of the OSWARP Mini-Convention at
DEXCON 17! Strange symbols appear on you flesh and the most learned minds in
the realm cannot fathom why. Perhaps those eldritch priests who serve the Great
Dreaming God, Cthulhu, can help decipher them. What could possibly go wrong
there? "The First Phantasmagoria" is the beginning adventure in a
multi-part adventure saga from Goodman Games.Thursday, 8:00PM - 12:00AM; One Round; All Materials Provided. Beginners Welcome; Fun,
All Ages.
R0269:
METAMORPHOSIS ALPHA (1976); "Level of the Lost" presented by Michael
Curtis. An OLD SCHOOL Game - Part of the OSWARP Mini-Convention at DEXCON 17! A
formerly sealed section of the Warden has been opened and rumor has it that one
of the fable command rings awaits beyond the entrance. Does your band of
explorers have what it takes to overcome the hazards of the Level of the Lost
and emerge with this potent artifact? This adventure is highly dangerous, but
highly fun!Friday, 2:00PM - 6:00PM; One Round; All Materials Provided. Beginners Welcome; Fun,
All Ages.
R0288:
Dungeon Crawl Classics; "The Second Phantasmagoria" presented by
Michael Curtis. An OLD SCHOOL Game - Part of the OSWARP Mini-Convention at
DEXCON 17! Venture back to the Drowse to enter the Forest of Childish Delights.
Inside lies another part of your quest for the Four Phantasmagorias. But things
(and people) turn weird once they cross the verge of the woods, so be forewarned.
This may make overcoming the eclectic collection of enemies birthed from
bloodstained fairy tales a tad difficult to overcome. "The Second
Phantasmagoria" is the second adventure in a multi-part adventure saga
from Goodman Games.Friday, 8:00PM - 12:00AM; One Round; All Materials Provided. Beginners Welcome; Fun,
All Ages.
Hope to see some familiar
faces (I know I will just looking at the folks who are running games) and to
meet new gamers. Feel free to bring stuff for me to deface if you want my
scrawl on something. Depending on my final schedule, I may actually play something
this time around, too.
There is a Kickstarter currently
underway for my forthcoming DCC RPG adventure DCC
#83 The Chained Coffin. Why is Goodman Games conducting a Kickstarter
rather than simply publishing the adventure as they’ve done eighty-two times
before? Good question.
It began with a little puzzle lock
idea I included in the original manuscript. An ancient and long-sealed door
bears a combination lock puzzle that needs bypassing in order to get through
the mighty valve. My initial plan was to have the puzzle illustrated in three
pictures that could be printed out or photocopied, and then the judge would
assemble the wheel by hand to give to the players to monkey with. Joseph
Goodman thought we could go one better and inquired with the printers whether
it was possible to create such an item and have it included with the adventure.
It was, but it would take a little doing, and thus the Chained Coffin
Kickstarter campaign was launched.
That was the humble beginning of a
project that is now dreaming big dreams and asking the DCC fans for help
achieving that objective. Joseph and I discussed various stretch goals to help
drive the Kickstarter, and I admitted that I had a lot of stories waiting to be
told in the Shudder Mountains, that fantasy Appalachia analog inspired by the
works of Appendix N author, Manly Wade Wellman. I originally told Joseph that
if the adventure proved popular, I’d like to revisit the setting again in a
sequel. If all goes well, I might not have to wait that long.
It has come to pass that The Chained Coffin may be destined for
greater things that a simple 32 pp. adventure. If the fans desire it, The Chained Coffin could become a
mini-campaign boxed set, one that includes a large 11”x17” regional map, a
gazetteer describing the Shudder Mountains, and, in addition to The Chained Coffin adventure, a pair of
secondary adventures designed to begin play in the region as zero-level PCs and
to encounter later in their adventuring careers.
Needless to say, if this “campaign
in a box” idea becomes a reality and is well-received by the fans, it may begin
a new trend with DCC RPG. People have been clamoring for an official DCC RPG
campaign world (whether a new one or a revised version of Aereth, Goodman’s
original campaign world for the 3E DCC adventures) and this could be the first
of several steps to make that happen.
DCC RPG encourages judges to
abandon the notion that the campaign world needs to be a vast, sprawling
expanse filled with countless cities and diverse ecospheres. Instead, DCC RPG
suggests taking a smaller approach and limiting the campaign to a compact
region, like a duchy, a minor stretch of wilderness, or even a single valley.
The Shudder Mountains are precisely this style of world design: a finite area
filled with enough adventuring ideas, unusual locals, and unique critters to
meet the needs of long-term play.
A series of “campaign boxes” would
allow judges to pick and choose what they want to include in their campaign
worlds, rather than be given the full world treatment common to most
pre-packaged fantasy campaigns. To continue with an Appalachian-themed
metaphor, you’d get the patches to make the quilt rather than the whole
blanket, and could assemble them using only the squares of color that catch
your interest. Not into Egyptian-themed adventuring regions? Then there’s no
need to spend the buy that campaign module (although if I wrote that one, I
hope you would anyway). Love the idea of sword-and-planet type adventures? Pick
up the hypothetical “Perils of the Purple Planet” themed set. And so on down
the line.
This way, the folks who want a
sense of a shared campaign world could have one—if they so desired—while the
maniacal homebrewed campaign designer could pick and choose, utilizing material
from the sets that captured their interest whole cloth or just the portions
they liked. It’s an interesting concept and I believe it would be useful to
game masters of not just DCC RPG, but other fantasy games as well.
As it stands now, The
Chained Coffin Kickstarter needs to meet a goal of $36,000 dollars to make
the boxed set a reality. But even if it fails to hit that mark in the
two-weeks-and-change remaining, there’s still a plethora of goodies already
funded. As of this morning, a $30 pledge entitles you to:
1) DCC RPG #83 The Chained Coffin with a special silver foil cover.
2) A stand-alone spinning wheel
puzzle dial along with five other ways to utilize the device in your campaign
beyond the original door lock.
3) Additional source material
including a patron write-up for “Ol’ Blackcloak,” a powerful entity encountered
in the adventure.
4) A mini-gazetteer of the Shudder
Mountains region.
5) Several pages of added random
encounters in the Shudder Mountains.
6) Two full pages of Doug Kovacs’ illustrated player
handouts.
7) Seven alternate versions of the
Bad Lick Beast, another challenging denizen of the Shudder Mountains.
8) Two more pages of player
handouts.
9) A zero-level adventure complete
with Shudder Mountain regional starting occupations.
10) The Almanac of the Shudder
Mountains (working title) that compiles the additional background material into
a single, digest-sized supplement for ease of reference during play. The
Almanac includes several new monsters waiting to meet the players.
Still awaiting funding are:
11) $18,000:The Almanac will be expanded to include Magic of the
Shudder Mountains.
12) $20,000:The Almanac will be upgraded to 24 pages of normal letter-sized
pages, and will be expanded to include even more gazetteer material.
13) $25,000:We'll add in another mini-adventure in the Shudder Mountains
that fills the gap between your level 0 characters and the level 5 Chained
Coffin module.
14) $30,000:The Almanac will be expanded with another 8 pages of gazetteer
material further expanding the Shudder Mountain region.
15) $35,000:We'll print an 11"x17" poster map of the Shudder
Mountains region.
16) $36,000:We'll print a full-color box to hold it all! The Shudder
Mountains gazetteer and adventure path will be complete. This two-part box
(i.e., complete with "box and lid," both in color) will hold your
copy of the module, the Almanac, the poster map, and the bonus mini-adventure.
With some room to spare!
I’m immensely proud
of the work I’ve done with the Shudder Mountains. You can hear me gush about
the project a bit on the latest
Spellburn podcast (note that the stretch goal tiers have been reduced in
cost since that episode was recorded—you get an even better deal for your money!).
It’s not every day one gets the play in a world inspired by the evocative works
of Manly Wade Wellman and transform 1950s Appalachia into a fantasy setting. I
summed up the experience and The Chained
Coffin itself in a piece I penned for last year’s Goodman Games Gen Con
program:
One of the great joys of writing DCC RPG adventures comes from the
game’s commitment to remaining true to the classic pulp-era fantasy and
science-fiction stories that inspired fantasy roleplaying, the so-called “Appendix
N” tales. And while “sword & sorcery” yarns comprise the lion’s share of
Appendix N, they are not the only types of stories found within it. The Chained
Coffin derives its inspiration from American folklore, as perceived through the
atmospheric works of Manly Wade Wellman. You’ll find no kobolds and orcs in The
Chained Coffin, but plenty of restless ghosts, shunned witches and conjure-men,
and devils willing to make a deal at midnight, all set against a backdrop of
superstition-filled mountains and secluded hollows where the still air smells
of pine trees. Heady stuff, indeed, and a far cry from your traditional fantasy
RPG fare.
The Chained Coffin stands as my favorite DCC RPG adventure to
date. The opportunity to create and then dwell for a time within a region more
at home in the eons-old Appalachian Mountains than the fantastical landscapes
of Tolkien, Howard, Moorcock, and Leiber was a designer’s dream. Hopefully, my
personal enjoyment will be shared by you, the judge and player. So gather ‘round
the fire, friends, pass the jug this way, and bend an ear to the music of the
mountains. There are both horrors and wonders waiting in the Deep Hollows and,
if you listen close at midnight, you might just hear a tune or two played on a
lonesome fiddle strung with silver strings…
I’m looking forward
to the opportunity to expand on the material I’ve already conjured up.
Hopefully, if share an interest and want to be part of it, we’ll make the boxed
set a reality. Please share this post or the Kickstarter page with similar
like-minded folk if you would. I’d be most appreciative if you help me turn the
Shudder Mountains into a place that spawns a hundred new DCC RPG campaigns. I’ll
sign off now and let you go take
a gander at the Kickstarter and weigh your decision. But before you depart,
allow Leadbelly to put you in the appropriate state of mind:
I've been keeping the masses informed about the progress of the Stonehell Dungeon sequel over on the books' Facebook and Google+ pages, but new milestones have been reached. I thought I'd share that report here, along with a preview of the cover art and links to other associated projects.
Stonehell Two Status Report (5.3.14)
I’m extremely pleased to break the month-long silence with
news that all the last elements of the book are coming together. As predicted,
I didn’t have much to report as the book’s progress relied on other people’s
contributions and wasn’t directly in my hands. It amazing how things move
forward when I’m not the one responsible for pushing the project along. This
report brings us two big pieces of news: the finalization of the sequel’s cover
art and the edited manuscript back in hand.
J.A. D’Andrea, who did the cover of the first Stonehell
book, is providing the cover art for the sequel. I’m always greatly impressed
by J.A.’s work, but his piece for the sequel really struck a chord. He did a magnificent
job of expressing the depths of Stonehell Dungeon and the strange mentality
that accompanies those who tread its halls. I’m proud to feature this one on
the cover, not only because it’s good, but because having J.A.’s work reappear
makes a nice book-end for the Stonehell series. Other pieces of art are also
trickling in, meaning that I’ll soon have all the components needed to push on
to final layout.
I have also received the edited manuscript back from the
outside editor. I’m happy to report that my own three passes over the draft
were not in vain and that the editor found only minor corrections that need to
be implemented. This was a great relief, as my mind always suspects the worse
when I send things off for others to review. However, in this case at least,
the worry was unfounded.
Here’s what remains to be done on the punch list:
1) Implement the minor changes required by the manuscript.
2) Collect the last stray pieces of art.
3) Finalize the layout by adding the art, tweaking the
format, and including the various legalese, index, credits, and “special thanks
to” sections.
4) Compose the cover.
5) Get a printer’s proof made and review it.
6) Make any final changes required by the proof.
7) Publication.
As you can see, there’s still a little work to be done, but
we’re heading into the last mile of the journey. Unfortunately, and you knew
there had to be an “unfortunately” if you’ve been following this project, I’m
running into a time crunch. The success of the Metamorphosis
Alpha Kickstarter left me with a few pressing projects that need completion
ASAP. I need to get these off my plate before I can attend to the sequel. I
also have North Texas RPG Con in a month and
must complete the last adventure that needs writing before I get on the plane
for Dallas (space remains in at least two of my games if you’re interested). I’d
hoped to be able to debut Stonehell 2 at North Texas, but, barring a miracle of
time and effort, I doubt this will occur. Rest assured, I’m eager to complete
Stonehell 2 and bid a fond farewell to the project. I’ll continue to push ahead
when I can and I’ll keep you informed of my progress.
Once again, I thank you for your patience, but know that we’re
almost there. In the meantime, I ask anyone who enjoys my work to check out the
latest Goodman Games’ Kickstarter
for The Chained Coffin, a new adventure penned by me that centers on a hexcrawl
through a “fantasy Appalachia” as inspired by the work of Manly Wade Wellman.
The Chained Coffin is one of my favorite works to date and I think it
demonstrates admirably the goal of DCC RPG going back to the source material of
the hobby and doing new and interesting things with the Appendix N material.
You may have heard the news already, but I’ve yet to chime
in on the latest announcement by Goodman
Games that emerged from the chaos of Gary
Con VI. Yes, it’s true: the original METAMORPHOSIS ALPHA rules as written
by James. M. Ward is being re-released in a deluxe
collector’s edition!
Late last year, I started receiving some very cryptic emails
from Joseph Goodman inquiring about my familiarity with METAMORPHOSIS ALPHA. I
knew the game, and had the uncommon honor of adventuring aboard the Warden
three times under Jim Ward’s mastery without the loss of life or limb. I was
hoping these email were leading in the direction they seemed to be going, and,
sure enough, once the legalities and contracts were obtained, I got the invite
to climb aboard the doomed Warden for another go-around.
For those of you unfamiliar with METAMORPHOSIS ALPHA, it is
the original science-fiction roleplaying game released by TSR back in 1976. You
play the role of a primitive tribesman aboard the generational starship, the
Warden, bound for a distant star. Generations ago, catastrophe struck the
Warden, killing a large percentage of the crew and colonists, and mutating many
of the survivors. Over time, those left alive on the Warden forgot their
original mission and plunged into a state of barbarism. The decline of
civilization was so thorough that the survivors forgot they were aboard a
starship, and developed tribal communities in self-contained levels of the ship
that defined their entire world.
As a player character, you begin the game in these small
enclosed worlds but eventually discover the truth of your predicament, acquiring
knowledge of the Warden and learning to use many of the weird artifacts
(lasers, vibro blades, Geiger counters, etc.) left behind by the original crew.
If you survive long enough (a difficult task given the hostility of the mutated
creatures that prowl the ship and the lethality of radiation still lingering in
places), you may eventually gain control of the ship and perhaps even guide it
to safety on a new world.
Although METAMORPHOSIS ALPHA didn’t have a long printing
life during the TSR days, the game, unlike the PCs who explore the Warden,
proved notoriously hard to kill. METAMORPHOSIS ALPHA is the urtext for GAMMA
WORLD, and many of the mutations, mutants, and technology found in that first
post-apocalyptic roleplaying game first appeared in MA. And like GAMMA WORLD, a
game which has gone through seven or eight editions, METAMORPHOSIS ALPHA
endured beyond its original print run. TSR released a version of the game for
it AMAZING ENGINE system in 1994, Fast Forward Entertainment published a 25th
anniversary edition in 2002, Mudpuppy Games produced the fourth edition in
2006, and there is currently work on a 5th edition of MA by Signal
Fire Games. On top of all this, the original 1976 rulebook is available for
download and print-on-demand
from WardCo.
“So why in the blazes in Goodman Games producing a deluxe collector’s
edition of the original rules?” you might ask. The answer is based on playability,
longevity, and historical importance.
The original rules, as available from WardCo., are identical
to the 1976 TSR release—and that includes the minute font they were printed in.
If you’ve never seen the original rulebook, the type is very small and the
layout is in dual column format. That might have been a good idea in 1976, but
as many gamers get older, their eyes aren’t what they used to be and the tiny
type becomes difficult to decipher. The Goodman Games print run will be an
oversized 10.5” x 14” book, allowing the original rules to be printed at 110%
size. This will alleviate the eyestrain factor.
The Goodman Games version also collects a vast amount of
material released for METAMORPHOSIS ALPHA under a single cover. Magazine
articles about the game, James M. Ward’s short story, “Footprints in the Sky,”
a new introductory adventure, special advice essays written especially for the
deluxe edition, and other useful material will all be compiled in the Goodman
Games edition. To ensure this material survives, say exposure to cosmic
radiation (or regular game use), the deluxe edition will utilized high-quality
binding, that used by collegiate text, to keep the book intact for decades to
come. It’s a book you’ll be proud to have as part of your RPG collection, yet
tough enough to actually use at the table.
The collector’s edition release also allows Goodman Games to
provide support for METAMORPHOSIS ALPHA in the form of published adventures,
something that MA has been lacking for many years. Four (and maybe five if the
Kickstarter hits its stretch goals) adventures released by Goodman Games are
planned for METAMORPHOSIS ALPHA in the coming year. The first, The Android Underlords, was available
for purchase at Gary Con VI and was written by yours truly. The opportunity to
contribute even a little bit to the Warden’s long history was a dream come true
for me, and when the creator of the game praised the adventure, it was a fan’s
dream come true. If Jim likes it, you know it’s both good and worthy of bearing
the METAMORPHOSIS ALPHA title on the cover.
Once the Kickstarter funds, there will be another three
adventures produced, one by Jobe Bittman, another by me, and a third by the
captain of the Warden, himself, James M. Ward. Should the Kickstarter hit
$37,000, a fifth adventure, author to be determined, will be published as well.
Even if you decide that the collector’s edition isn’t your cup of tea, you
might consider contributing to the Kickstarter to get the complete run of
adventures, all of which can be played with the WardCo version of the rules or
easily adapted to other RPG systems (like DCC RPG, for instance!).
Before I go, it bears mentioning that the deluxe collector’s
edition is being produced under a license that allows a single printing of the book. Once this run is gone, so is the
deluxe version. Those who don’t get aboard the Kickstarter now will have to
rely on the secondary markets—where it will command an extravagant price—to obtain
a copy.
Hopefully, my ramblings have piqued your interest enough to
back the Kickstarter, but if not, there are other ways to get involved with the
original science-fiction RPG. Consider checking out one or more of the
following METAMORPHOSIS ALPHA forums for more information about the game and to
meet like-minded mutants:
I’m leaving for the still-wintery Midwest on Wednesday,
travelling once again to Lake Geneva, WI to attend Gary Con VI. This year’s convention
looks to be a good one for both myself and Goodman Games.
I’m bringing three new DCC
RPG adventures to playtest: The
Forging of the Ghost Ring, The First Phantasmagoria, and The Second Phantasmagoria. In addition
to these three titles, I’ll be running Not
Another Night on the Town, the follow-up to the “street crawl” adventure I
took on tour with me in 2013. Unfortunately for anyone looking to register at
the con, all the seats for those games are filled, but if you’re going to be at
the Lodge and are looking to experience DCC
RPG, Doug Kovacs will be running various pick-up games during the weekend. One
way or another, if you want to play DCC
RPG, we’ll find a way to make it happen.
On Friday morning, there will be a special seminar in the
bar entitled “What’s New with Goodman Games?” This hour-long event features the
Goodman Games’ crew unveiling our secret plans for 2014 and 2015, including a
first look at forthcoming art and adventures. The event culminates with the
announcement of a “hush hush” project that I’m excited to be part of. A Very Special
Guest will join us to help make that announcement. I can say no more.
To add to my already busy schedule, I’ll be running two
unofficial game sessions over the weekend. Wednesday night is the return of my Completely Unofficial Pre Gary Con Gamma
World Game and Sunday night will see Down
Where the Dead Men Go, a Call of
Cthulhu game set in my Wildwyck County setting featured in Fight On! magazine. If you’re arriving
early or staying late at the Lodge, track me down and I’ll squeeze you in if
there’s room.
I’m looking forward to seeing a number of old friends and
meeting new ones. As always, if you’ve got something you want me to deface with
my scrawl, just ask.
It has been awhile since I posted anything here regarding
the progress of Stonehell 2 (or about anything else for that matter). Most of
the status reports have been shared via the Stonehell Facebook page and the
Google+ page, but I’ve let the blog go fallow. My apologies for that to
everyone who chooses to avoid social media. Let me correct my error.
The manuscript and maps for Stonehell 2 are finished and the
book is in rough layout. After a couple of editing passes by myself, the book
is now in the hands of an outside editor for a final editing and proofing pass.
Once this is complete and the last corrections are implemented, I’ll be ready
to move the book into the final layout phase in preparation for getting a
printer’s proof.
I’m expecting to have all the art by the end of April, and
using May to do the layout and proofing of the book. If things go according to
plan, I intend to have Stonehell 2 out in the first weekend of June to coincide
with NTRPG Con. I’ll have copies in hand down in Texas and the book and PDF
will be available through the usual venues.
Needless to say, I’m anxiously looking forward to getting
the sequel out into the wild, bringing a project with began five years ago to a
long-overdue conclusion. I hate leaving things unfinished and I’m ecstatic
Stonehell has defied the obstacles and reached the end of its journey. As we
get closer to the finish line, I’ll post here again to keep you up to date on
the status of the sequel.
Let me once again extend my thanks for your patience and
support, and I hope you enjoy the final Stonehell book as much as the first.
This is a brief update for the period immediately following
the Save
Stonehell Fundraiser from last week. As promised, now that I’ve
restored myself to the 21st century and have the means to continue
working on the dungeon, I’ve spent the last seven days getting back to
business. Some time was spent acquiring my new system and the programs needed
to access and edit the existing draft of the sequel and its map components, but,
despite that, the project moves along.
As of this morning, three more quadrants are completed,
meaning their maps saw their final tweaks, the drafts went through preliminary
edits, and they been added to the rough layout of the book. For those of you
following along at home, this means that I’ve hit the two-thirds completed mark
and only nine more quadrants remain to be finished. I remain optimistic we’ll
have a finished draft by month’s end and a completed Stonehell Dungeon by the end of December. Of course, any delay
could through this schedule out of whack, but I’m keeping my head down and
pushing on.
There are existing projects that I need to work on, all of
which were assigned prior to the fundraiser, but these are small ones that
shouldn’t eat into too much time to work on the sequel. One will be completed
this afternoon, while the second is due in mid-November. Until the end of the
month, Stonehell will be my primary concern, and I’m aiming to have the draft
ready for editing by that time. Once it’s prepared, my next step will be acquiring
art for the book to prepare the cover and the interior layout after the editing
process is finished. After those steps are finished, it’s just a short sprint
across the finish line with proof copies and final changes.
Since I have a bunch of new bosses, I’ll continue to make
weekly progress reports throughout this stage of the process (preliminary
editing, map changes, and draft layout). They may become bi-weekly during the
editing and art phase since that’s all work that will be out of my direct
control and I’ll be dependent on others for progress through that period.
Nevertheless, I look forward to keeping everyone informed and I hope you’re
getting as excited as I am that the final Stonehell book is nearing completion.
I'll be posting status reports over on both the Google+ Stonehell Dungeon page and the Facebook Stonehell Group. If you're not yet circled or joined those groups, now it the perfect time to do so to ensure you get the news first, as I'm not certain I'll be detailing the process as thoroughly here on the blog.
The Save Stonehell Fundraiser (which
swiftly became the “pay what you want” release of Convention Specials: Revealed) is finished. Actually, it was
finished two hours after it started, surprising the hell out of me. Due to your
overwhelming generosity, my efforts to raise $300.00 to cover or defray the
cost of getting my old computer repaired or replaced was met six times over.
One hundred and nine of you contributed to meeting that goal, resulting in a
total of $1889.63 in contributions and purchases of the limited-edition PDF. I
am astounded.
In all honesty, I thought I’d be lucky to reach the $300.00
mark over the course of the week. You proved me wrong and for that I’m deeply
appreciative. I now have 109 new bosses, so I’d better get to work on finishing
that sequel.
As to dispersal of the money raised, here’s the anticipated
breakdown: Half of it goes to replacing my ancient computer, upgrading the few
programs I need, and purchasing a backup power-supply. I’ve not owned a
computer that wasn’t second-hand since the turn of the millennium, and owning
one without “quirks” is a new experience for me.
The remaining money is going towards two other goals.
Firstly, I’ll cover some monthly bills with it. This means I can turn down a
project or two and devote all my time to finishing Stonehell 2. Lack of time
and breathing room has been the book’s greatest enemy and is largely the reason
it keeps getting delayed. With the surplus raised, I can say “no” to another
gig or two in the short term to finish the sequel. This will be both a boon to
everyone who has been waiting patiently for it, and to myself, who wants to get
the damned thing done and remove the millstone from around my neck.
Secondly, a portion of the remaining money is to be paid
forward. Since I ended up with far more money than I anticipated, it only
stands to reason that others benefit from my good fortune. There’s a number of
worthy causes out there more deserving of assistance than my First World
problem. I mean to do my part to help now that I can.
In regards to the two sets of original notes I promised,
each of those has a new home. One is going to the North
Texas RPG Convention. I’m not certain what plans Doug and Mike have for
those pages, but I can’t think of a better home for them. There, they’ll either
find a place of security or make their way into someone’s collection.
The second set goes to a very generous contributor who paid
a few dollars extra to bump him into second place. That contributor will receive
the remaining set of notes after NTRPG Con makes their decision as to which one
they want.
Let me close by again thanking you all for contributing or
buying the PDF. Your generosity and fellowship has both inspired me and humbled
me. I will continue to endeavor to sustain your faith in my ability to produce
interesting and entertaining material for your games.
We're reaching the last 24 hours
of the fundraiser, and I'd like to again thank everyone who donated. Yesterday,
I replaced my broken, aged computer with a new Dell Inspiron and will soon be
back at full production. I’ve one small piece I’m contracted to finish, and
then it’s on to Stonehell 2 full-time. Your generosity has made that possible.
There are still three donors tied
for who shall receive the original notes for one of the adventures. These three
contributors each donated $100.00, and if you were one of those kind souls, you’re
in the running for my notes. The last thing I want to do is encourage more
donation as you all gone above and beyond my expectation, but if one of those
three were to contribute even $1.00, that’d break the tie and ensure that party
ownership of the original adventure. I’ll leave that up to you all to decide if
you desire adventure that much or are willing to determine the receiver by a
die-roll.
According to my records, every donor has been sent their
copy of the PDF as of 10:45 AM EST, today. If you didn’t receive yours, please
check your spam folder and then contact me. I’ll make sure you get your copy.
For those of you who have your copy, I hope you’re enjoying them!
Remember that I’ll be officially pulling the plug on the
fundraiser/”pay what you want” release at noon EST time tomorrow. At that time,
the donation button comes down and the Stonehell
Dungeon—Convention Specials: Revealed supplement goes away for good. You
have roughly 25 hours remaining.
Thank you all once again for your extreme generosity and
fellowship. No matter if you contributed $1.00 or $100.00, your help is greatly
appreciated. Without you, I’d been sidelined from making any progress on either
Stonehell or other projects until at least the turn of the year. You’ve made it
possible for this writer to write, and you don’t know how much that means to
me.
At the mercy of Chaos! Abducted by the Court of Chaos, the adventurers face hard choices if they want to return home. The Host of Chaos desires a legendary artifact held by the Scions of Law and need patsies to retrieve it. Faced with an eternity of servitude, the party must sneak into the Plane of Law and steal the Yokeless Egg from under its guardians’ watch. But not all is what it appears when the Court of Chaos is concerned and serving the Host may destroy the party from within. Can they survive the Intrigue At the Court of Chaos? Link
Rules Set: DCC RPG
Writer: Michael Curtis Cover Art and Cartography: Doug Kovacs
A brief interlude: In this week's episode of Spellburn, Harley Stroh and I make return appearances to the podcast to demonstrate the spell duel mechanics in Dungeon Crawl Classics RPG. There's a lot of smack talk and even more laughs as we show why you don't need to be intimidated when adjudicating two (or more!) spell-slingers facing off in wizardly combat. Here's the episode link.
Let me again thank everyone who contributed to help solve what is, quite frankly, a First World problem and not nearly as deserving as a lot of other good causes. I'm astounded and humbled by the outpouring of goodwill.
As of 8:56 AM EST, every contributor has been sent their PDF of Stonehell Dungeon--Convention Specials: Revealed. If you haven't received yours, please check your spam folder first and then drop me a line to let me know it didn't turn up. I'll make sure you get it as promised.
Also as promised, I will be giving out the original notes, maps, and other materials from the adventures included in the PDF to two generous contributors. One is definitely spoken for and that donor has first choice as to which of the adventures he'd like. The second one will go to the donor who contributed the next highest amount. At the moment, three generous donors contributed $100.00 each and I'll be randomly determining the recipient of the second adventure from those three.
The PDFs will remain available as a "pay what you want" release until Thursday, October 10th at 12 PM EST. I also intend to remove the donation button from the blog at that time, as well. You've already been extremely generous and I have no desire to wear out my welcome!
As of 4:19 EST, everyone who contributed to the fundraiser and I received notification about has had their "thank you" PDF sent to them. If you don't see it, please check your spam folder. If you received the email but the PDF wasn't attached for some reason (in other words, I screwed up), please let me know.
In an unbelievable stroke of generosity, I've reached my goal (and then some) for the fundraiser in an unimaginable short time. The gift was so generous that this unnamed individual will have the choice of either both sets of my original notes for the adventures or one of his choosing. Should he wish just the one, I'll be giving the other set to the next highest donor in thanks for all the good will I've received in less than two hours.
So for the record, I'll be able to replace my aging computer and get back on with finishing the sequel. However, I promised to keep this fundraiser going for a full week to allow people access to the limited edition PDF. I intend to keep that promise. All additional funds raised from this point forward will be applied towards other expenses. This allows me to actually turn down additional freelance projects (not counting those I've already committed myself to) in the short term so that I can concentrate on getting the sequel completed before year's end. However, I know not everyone may not wish to contribute towards that goal, and I wanted to be honest with all you very fine and unbelievably generous people. So consider the PDF to be more of a "pay what you want" product than a true fundraiser from now until next Thursday.
I am deeply in awe of you all. I've said this before, but writing is an extremely lonesome profession and I'm seldom aware of how much people enjoy my work until I get out on the convention trail and meet fans face-to-face. Your contributions this afternoon have astounded me, and I remain gobsmacked at the generosity and humanity of you all. From the bottom of my heart, I extend my thanks. I will endeavor to continue producing work of my finest caliber for your enjoyment. Again, thank you, thank you, thank you.
Very most sincerely,
Mike.
My friends, Stonehell Dungeon is cursed.
I’m not speaking of the manifold magical enchantments that
lurk within, but rather a real world phenomenon that has plagued the dungeon
since its inception. Back in 2009, when I was assembling the first book, my
computer decided it would be a good time to cook its motherboard right when I
was at the tail end of putting together the book. Some work was lost, but I was
able to get my hoary computer repaired and complete the book. Now, history has
repeated itself.
You may have noticed that I’ve had little to report either
here or on the various forums and social media dedicated to chronicling the
sequel. This is because nothing has been accomplished for reasons outside of my
control. A few weeks ago, my computer decided to become twitchy, and then
undergo a series of catastrophic failures. I’m typing this on a loaned laptop,
which is how I’ve been connecting to the ether the past three weeks.
As with many things in life, catastrophe seldom comes when
it’s convenient, and my computer giving up the ghost for good is no exception.
My machine died just when finances are at their worst and, after pursuing my
budget, it’s apparent it may be several months before I can afford repairs or
replace the ancient computer. At this point, it’s probably the same cost to do
either. Frankly, that’s a delay I do not want to endure.
To this end, I’ve decided to appeal to the fans of the
dungeon to help get things back on track and to finish the book before year’s
end as anticipated. Beginning today and running for one week, I’m holding the Save Stonehell Fundraiser in hopes of helping cover or at least defray
the cost of getting myself back into the modern age and finish the sequel. I’m
not one to ask for charity often and hate to do so, but this is one case where
I feel appealing to the fans of Stonehell
Dungeon in particular, and my work in general, is justified since it helps
me get the book out and into your hands all the sooner. Both of us benefit in
the long run.
However, rather than ask for pure charity, the Save Stonehell Fundraiser rewards you for your assistance. For the next
seven days, anyone who donates any amount to the fund will receive a special
PDF of seldom-seen Stonehell material. This PDF, Stonehell Dungeon—Convention Specials: Revealed, contains two
special adventures set in and around Stonehell Dungeon, adventures previously
only experienced by a small handful of people who played through them at
conventions. After next week, I’ll no longer be distributing this PDF and its
mysterious contents will return to my private archive of work for good.
The 16-page supplement contains “The Hidden Vault of Evaders
Noan”, an adventure designed for 3rd level PCs that was first run at
the 3rd Annual Dave Arneson Memorial Game Day in 2011, and “The
Great Stonehell Lazer Massacre,” run exclusively at this year’s NTRPG Con. In
addition to the adventures, the PDF contains a number of “Behind the Scenes”
sidebars that discuss dungeon design choices, humorous anecdotes, and actual
events that occurred when running these adventures. Much like Stonehell Dungeon Supplement Two: Buried
Secrets, there is almost no art in the supplement (but there is a cool piece of map clarification by Jim Wampler), meaning the pages are
jam-packed with goodies. If you own that supplement, you know what to expect.
As noted above, it doesn’t matter if you can spare $1.00 or
$100.00. All contributors receive a copy of the PDF as a “thank you” for your
generosity. I’ll endeavor to email your copy within 24 hours of being notified
of your contribution. The PDF will be sent to the default email address
associated with the contributor’s PayPal account unless otherwise specified by
the donor. The PDF is 883 kb in size, so if you expect your email provider may have issues with a file of that size, let me know and I'll make other arrangements to get it to you.
But that’s not all. To further show my appreciation (and to
possibly convince you to donate generously), the two contributors who donate
the most to the Save Stonehell Fundraiser will receive a special thank
you: my own personal copies of the adventures, including my hand-drawn maps,
notes, and other annotations that accrued through actual play. I will
personally mail each of those two contributors one of the adventures and
provide extra customization (an autograph, a letter of provenance, a stick
figure drawing of a Viking riding a whale, etc.) as desired. The contributor
who donates the most will get first choice of the two adventures, with the
second highest donor receiving the other. In the event of multiple donors
contributing the same amount, I’ll determine the recipient randomly using a
good old polyhedral.
At the end of each day, I’ll post in the comments below the highest
contributions to date. This way, if you really want a shot of one of the
adventures, you’ll know the goal to hit or exceed. Multiple donations by one
person will be totaled when determining the two recipients of my personal
notes, so if you give more than once, all your contributions will be applied
when making the determination of the most generous donors.
How to Help Out
EDIT: Should be working now. Thank you!
On the upper right of this blog is a Paypal Donation button.
If you wish to contribute to the fund, please use that button to give. I’m hoping to raise around $300.00 during the next seven
days, which will either cover the cost to get my nine-year-old, second-hand PC
restored to life or allow me to purchase a budget economy tower from the local
electronics box store. If thirty fans of Stonehell contribute $10.00 each, my
goal is reached and I can accelerate the return to working on both Stonehell
and other projects, clearing my plate clean by 2014. Give what you can,
however, if you’re so inclined.
Let me conclude by both thanking you in advance for your
generosity and for you constant patience in waiting for the final Stonehell
book. The dungeon is getting close to completion and, with your help now, will
soon go from a long-standing promise unfulfilled to something you can read,
use, and keep on your shelf for years to come.
I've got a few more post regarding my return to 2nd Edition AD&D and the Forgotten Realms planned, but preparations for Gen Con 2013 have thrown a serious spanner in the works. I'll pick up the series once I get back from Indy and have a day or three to recover. My apologies to everyone looking forward to me.
Hey, readers! If you’re planning on attending GenCon 2013 next week (holy crap!) and want
to say hello, get something signed, kick me in the shins, or otherwise interact
with me, I’m bound by law to be in certain places at certain times. For those
of you looking to track me down, you can pretty much guarantee I’ll be at the
following places when scheduled. If I’m not, I’ve been abducted and you should
alert the proper authorities.
DCC
RPG—Frozen in Time (1st level PCs) (RPG1344552):
Saturday 8/17 @ 9:00 AM
DCC
RPG—A Night on the Town (RPG1344553): Saturday 8/17 @ 7:00 PM
Goodman
Games Booth(Booth #1819)
Thursday
8/15: Scheduled from 10 AM to 3 PM, but I
might be there as soon as 9AM.
Saturday
8/17: 1 PM to 4 PM
Sunday
8/18: 2 PM to 3 PM, but possibly until the
dealers’ room closes at 4 PM.
If you’ve met me at cons previously, you
know I’m always up for chatting about gaming, signing books I’ve worked on (and
even those I haven’t!), and meeting fellow gamers. Feel free to introduce
yourself, but please leave your 19th level Paladin stories behind.
In every player pack I created for one of my Realms
campaigns, I included “current clack”—news and rumors characters would hear
locally (including from caravans passing through their locale) as play began.
This is…how it all begins, every time—because if you, the players, are going to
choose where your characters go and what they explore, I must dangle an array
of possibilities before you. You have to feel the world is no lifeless
backdrop, but a gigantic flood of many lives constantly unfolding.
Ed Greenwood Presents Elminster’s Forgotten Realms, p. 45
That’s Ed demonstrating his old school roots (as if there
was ever any question). From that one quote, you see that Ed’s Realms campaigns
were “sandbox” affairs, even if he didn’t use—or even know—the now-common term.
And although 2nd edition AD&D somehow got the reputation for
being the version that eschewed the sandbox for the railroad, there’s nothing
in the actual rules that says it has to be played that way. Deneir knows I wasn’t
going to run my campaign that way.
Taking a page from Ed’s book, I created a list of rumors the
PCs would know at the start of the campaign and then did some minor preparations
to cover my ass should they choose to pursue them. I specifically didn’t flesh
out every possible avenue of adventure, cribbing from the old Dungeoncraft articles the adage “Never
create more than you have to,” but sketched out an encounter or two related to
each rumor. I figured once the players chose a direction to pursue I could add
more details to the scenario they wanted to explore. That method has worked
well for me in the past and it continues to do so now.
After character creation in the first session, the players
got a single page of rumors. Here’s what it contained:
Current Clack for the 9th of Mirtul—Year of
the Shadows (1358 DR)
Rumors
are flying that a trade coster (caravan) traveling from Loudwater up along the
Dawn Pass Trail was attacked and looted by brigands of uncertain origin. The
ambush occurred a half-day’s travel west of the Nighthunt Inn. Common opinion
holds Zhentarim raiders are responsible for the attack, but no definitive
evidence links the Black Network to the brigands.
In light
of the recent ambush, a small caravan bound for Lonely Oak is seeking to
strengthen its defenses. Polgan Dranthmir of the Thunderpine Trading Coster is
looking to hire stout swordsmen and spell-hurlers for the roundtrip journey
from Elf Water to Lonely Oak. The trip is expected to take two tendays. Dranthmir
is offering 3 silvers per day for freeswords and 5 silvers a day for
spell-masters.
“Elf
fire” was spotted late last tenday by travelers approaching the village. The
mysterious green fire was sighted south of the western trail near the vicinity
of Grumber’s Meadow. Elf fire is believed to appear in places were lost
treasure is concealed or where ancient spell-casting once occurred.
Heavy
spring storms have uncovered a sealed portal set in the rocky walls of the Orc
Trough, a deep gully located west of town. In addition to this recently
unearthed door, the Trough contains a number of old catacombs believed to be of
elven origin.
Erig
Wholodown of Wholodown Brewery has a standing offer to buy leathertop
mushrooms. He is offering 2 silver per dozen toadstools. Leathertops are found
throughout the Southwood, typically in moist earth between the northern roots
of crumblebark trees.
Fresh
land urchin tracks have been spotted along the western river bank, indicating a
“quill” of land urchins is hunting the area. These curious creatures often form
pearls within their bodies, and some older urchins have been known to create up
to two dozen pearls with each valued between a hundred and six hundred gold
coins. Unfortunately, the bizarre creatures’ myriad spines are poisonous, so
urchin hunters should take care.
In the end,
the players seemed most interested in the hired caravan guards, the unearthed
portal, and the land urchin hunt rumors. They would do a little rumor-mongering
of their own in the first session before deciding on which one to pursue. Their
choice and the subsequent events will be covered in the next series of posts.
As an
aside, I’ve gotten a lot of positive feedback about these Realms posts. I hope
you’re enjoying my return to Faerûn and maybe are inspired to make your own
visit, either for the first time or to reacquaint yourself with old ground.
