August 2011

Pavis is coming!!!

The final draft text for Pavis: Gateway to Adventure is off being edited and proofed, the art is in the last stages, and hopefully in October we'll be doing the layout! Huzzah!

Pavis: Gateway to Adventure is a hugely expanded and update version of the classic 1982 Pavis book and 1992's River of Cradles book.

Dad, how good am I?

One question that often comes up from old RQ players who have just made the jump to HeroQuest is "what do my ability ratings actually mean?" Or - "how good is an ability with 17?"

Ashley Munday, on the HeroQuest-rules Yahoo Group, has taken a brilliant stab at answering that question, made all the more brilliant because it is written from a "in game" perspective (albeit a bit tongue-and-cheek).

Elsewhere: A review of Deluge, by Brad Murray

As kind of a side thing while working on Something Wicked, I'm doing some posts on Google+ and the 20' by 20' Room gaming blog about things I file as "Neat Gaming" - work that makes me happy, one way or another.

You can see my first entry, a review of Brad Murray's compact and astonishing guide to slightly surreal apocalypse, Deluge, at 20' by 20' Room and at G+. Enjoy!

Seven fantasy must-reads

At Ropecon I was asked about works of world literature that I think are essential for fantasy game writers or for folk who really want to understand the underpinnings of the genre. So at the top of my head, here are seven must-reads for the genre.

Inanna's Journey into Hell. Dating to well before the eighteenth century B.C., this Sumerian poem joins many archetypal mythological themes: the descent to hell, the sevenfold approach, death and rebirth, the pursuit, the mourning women, and so on.

RopeCon

This weekend, both Jeff and I attended the Finish gaming convention RopeCon in Helsinki. It was a rather interesting experience on many levels, not least because this was the first Con I've attended which really counted as work, but also due to the size and demographics of its attendees.

RopeCon is possibly the largest gaming convention in Europe with around 5,000 participants. Not everyone there is a roleplayer by any means, but most were gamers of one sort or another.

Ropecon, Heroes, and more

Just got back from Ropecon 2011, Finland's mightiest RPG convention, and thought I'd give a short con report while the fun is still fresh.

Pete Nash and I were the Moon Design guests at Ropecon, and were shown around Helsinki by Johan Lindholm and Mikko Tormala. Helsinki is a beautiful city, with a remarkable amount of Art Deco and Neo-Classical architecture, surrounded by water, forests, and lots of huge granite boulders. Mikko took us all to the Suomenlinna, and - WOW! that place rocks!