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• What is currently being worked on

  2010 Jan 15

  Cross posted over at the Collective Endeavour, a forum for UK small press RPGs.

  Monkey: this is the game that will probably interest you lot the most. Its my slim & focused 70 page take on the Chinese Classic Journey to the West, better known as MONKEY! over here (thanks to the Japanese TV series that aired in the 80s). Players play errant immortals chucked out of Heaven and the adventures revolve around them trying to earn enough virtue to re-enter Paradise despite their weakness and failings. A simple card mechanic models the action, which is fast furious and comedic while ultimately enlightening. Literally 2 pages away from completion, then a bit of polish, editing, layout and out Feb/March (at the very latest).

  The Savage North: Last year I released a game called OpenQuest. I took the bull by the horns and produced a totally Open Content game from the Mongoose RuneQuest OGL SRD, which reflects how I like to play D100 (BRP, RQ ) these days, i.e in a very streamlined storytelling manner. The Savage North is a collection of four scenarios set in a Conan like setting. Very trad dungeon bashing/wilderness trekking from the glory days of White Dwarf in the early 80s. A fun little project which I’ve got to work with my mate John Ossoway (author of Cthulhu Rising) who wrote the adventures (for a RQ3 Conan campaign originally), did the copious number of maps and all the art. I’ve been responsible for writing a setting, converting it to OpenQuest and generally gluing together what was initially just a quick fun write up for John’s home group.

  Wordplay: The Big Five This is Graham Spearing’s D6 dice pool narrative game. Think HeroQuest and Burning Wheel in the front, with a few indie games and WEG’s Star Wars D6 in the back, all in a car crash. Put back together by a games designer with an eye for simplicity and common sense. When Graham initially started the game he put a call out for people to write mini-settings called Themes for inclusion in the book. Four authors, my self included, answered the call. Graham published a plain text version , which included his Epic Fantasy theme, last year. His plan was to do a fully illustrated version with the remaining four themes. Unfortunately he hasn’t got time to do this due to other commitments, so I’m picking up publishing this. As well as Graham’s theme it will have; The Cold Crusade by Mark Galeotti (De Vinci code meets Heroes), Flashpoint by me (think Traveller redone as a story telling game), Infinite War (gonzo time travelling game, part satire of current war on terror, influenced by Jerry Cornelius and Fritz Leiber’s The Big Time), Keep Portland Weird by Charles Green (Charles calls it Urban Fantasy, but I think its very much World of Darkness done right with a lovely bit of surreal social commentary running in the back ground). “But Newt I notice only three authors there in your list” you cry. That’s right, Dom Mooney was originally going to be submitting ‘Singularities’, an epic Hard Sci-fi theme in the tradition of Iain Banks, Alistair Reynolds and a host of other modern writers, but is now developing it as a standalone Wordplay game. Apart from quickly writing Flashpoint, which is the replacement for Singularities, this is very much a quick layout job. I’ve already got alot of free/lo cost art from my regular stable of artists Release then April.

  Dark Corners of the Empire: This is my own fantasy heartbreaker, written using Wordplay. Take the adventure and setting from OpenQuest and mash it up with the Wordplay system and see what comes out the other end.
  Its really intended for people who want to try Wordplay out, but are put off by its ‘hey make everything up yourself’ approach or just want to play it in a familiar fantasy setting. Release?? This one is coming together very quickly, so could be March or Feb.

  Hearts in Glorantha & Gloranthan Adventures: HiG was my starting point as a small press publisher almost two years ago. Its done me proud, providing me with a basic cash flow to pay for art for other projects. As a commited Gloranthaphile I’m still chugging away putting togehter the twice yearly HiG (issue 4 is being worked on now) and Gloranthan Adventures is an irregular spin off publication brought about by the realisation that I still have alot of my own material (which is mainly adventures) that is too big to fit in HiG.

  This is the tip of the ice burg, since I’m a hyperactive sort whose creativity has been well and truly been liberated by self-publishing via lulu, but this is stuff I definitely know is going to get released in the next six months.l

  Mirrored from Blog.

• Using OpenQuest for your game

  2009 Dec 04

  Ok this is prompted by the announcement that the new edition of Mongoose RuneQuest (or MRQ2) won’t have an OGL SRD for what ever reason. I can speculate why but since speculation feeds the trolls I won’t be posting my thoughts here

  First off OQ despite being based off the MRQ 1 SRD uses the OGL license to publish, not the MRQ Logo License (which is being pulled by Mongoose), so you are still FREE to use the OQ Dev Kit to base your game on (as long as you obey the OGL license that is included with it).  When I talk about game I also  include self-contained supplements.

  This has led to allot of people saying that OQ is now the only viable route for small press/indie publishing of D100, either that or contacting Chaosium and arranging a BRP license, and in recent days allot of nonsense and speculation has been talked about OpenQuest as a result. In this post I hope to put some of those myths firmly to bed.

  OpenQuest as a Brand

  If you plan on using OQ as a base of your game because of some commercial nonsense of Brand awareness, think twice and then think twice again. OpenQuest is happy fun little community based game. If you are on board with that’s groovy and cool. Help build the community, visit the D101 forums tell us what you are doing, get involved in discussions and you’ll be hitting the right  mark. OQ currently is a minnow of RPGs. Who knows with a bit of love and attention it will grow into a big Whale of a game, but for now its worth taking some time to ground your self in the small reality of the situation. Just because OQ gets mentioned on RPG forums now, doesn’t mean its a cash cow or even that people take it seriously. Think niche within a niche.

  Oh and if you email me, or post on a forum, telling me how I should be getting OQ into retail or generally telling me how to ‘build the OpenQuest’ brand you won’t get a response. I’ve heard it before and have my own thoughts (which I’ve just outlined above ) and its not your place to tell me how to run my Business

  New OGL Content for OpenQuest

  This if fore-coming will be posted on the OpenQuest Companion.  Don’t email me asking me for new rules from upcoming D101 OQ powered games for your own project, like some people have recently. River of Heaven, OQ Modern and anything else I have in the pipeline will almost certainly have no new Open Gaming Content.

  Not a BRP substitute

  Don’t use OpenQuest if you want to write a BRP alike supplement or game, its not BRP (even though it is influenced by that game) and you will be dissappointed at every turn, dissappointment that will shine through in your final product and (if you are that way motivated) sales. Have a chat with Charlie and co at Chaosium and I’m sure you’ll be able to sort something out

  John Ossoway, who is using OQ to power his Hard Sci-fi game River of Heaven, told me recently that although he’s a huge BRP fan he’s using OQ because he geniuely likes what it brings to the gaming table. This is the attitude that you should have when using OQ, not that you are taking advantage of the OGL lisence to do a BRP alike game and avoid the hassle of dealling with Chaosium over a BRP license.
  

  The Right way

  Currently there’s at least three serious games being worked on that I know about, whose creators have contacted me. Some are public (like Clockwork and Chivlary) , the others are still in early stages of development so haven’t been announced publicly.

  They all share the following common features, which means they will be successfully completed and be viable games.

  • They add to OpenQuest, they are not just taking the Dev Kit tweaking and changing bits here and there to make another Generic game. They are interesting games in their own right. So no generic OQ Space, OQ WW2 or boring GURPS like sourcebooks.
  • Their creators are getting on with the hard donkey work. While having the full text of OQ gives you a big head start (like MRQ SRD for me) its not the end of the process and the creators that have contacted me show that they understood this.

  My Commitment to OpenQuest

  Ok so there’s been alot of harsh truths in the sections proceeding the above. Here’s the good news. I’m firmly commited to supporting OpenQuest, by keeping it in ‘print’ (you’ll always be able to get it via Lulu or similar future Print on Demand services) and available in low-cost pdf and free plain text version. Also OpenQuest will always be OPEN and free to use.

  I may shift my focus onto other games using other systems, but I’m commited to updating the OQ Companion and publishing supporting adventures (we currently have three in the pipeline with a possible forth) and I’m always happy to talk about the game on forums and answer questions via email (the exceptions being outlined above).

  So there you go there’s a few home truths about using OQ to develop your game/supplement. Go on and DO IT!

  
  

  Mirrored from Blog.

• Post Dad part 2

  2009 Oct 18

  I’ve very recently became a father again for the second time. Young Henry Brian Newport was born Sept 14th 2009 and is fit and able. Mother is recovering well and elder sister Evie adores her new sibling, although is kinda annoyed that we pay less attention to her at important moments!

  Henry’s birth was always going to be this big wall that slowed down the onward rush of D101, but life is coming back into the old beast

  OpenQuest. Another minor errata is due, but being held up as my main pc is out of commission at the moment. Since this is the nerve centre of D101 where I do all my InDesign layout this is quite annoying. Hopefully resolved in the next week or two, since time to tinker with PCs is severely limited at the moment.

  Savage North. I actually used my paternity leave as a big opportunity to get the writing I needed to do done and dusted. A big push which saw the setting , magic and over arching metaplot nailed. John has done all the maps and illustrations and the whole project is waiting on me to go through the adventures and convert the original RQ 3 stats to OpenQuest. I’m about halfway through this simple process and hope to be content complete by my birthday Oct 26th and be finished doing layout early Nov. This means a late Nov release

  Monkey. I know this is going to sound lame, but I keep waiting for my head to be in the right place to get this finished. Only one chapter to do – the difficult setting & npc chapter, then a quick revision before sending off to be edited all in one go. Good news is that all the art is in so when the edited text is here it can go straight into a simple 6″ x 9″ layout. Hoping to have done by the end of this year early next year latest.

  HeroQuest.Alot is bubbling under the surface here…
  

  Hearts in Glorantha issue 4 is currently coming together, but may be delayed until late winter early spring next year. Why? Well honestly I want a break from it. I’ve pumped out three issues in quick succession and a certain amount of fatigue has set in. But I know I’ll be back revitalised, so don’t worry

  Gloranthan adventures 1: New Beginnings. Currently reading the new Sartar book (400 pages of Gloranthan goodness) to bring my old Sartite adventures into line with it and occasionally striping out the stats and references to old supplements that are no longer needed. The idea is to make this a lightweight companion to Sartar, in that it draws from that book but doesn’t rely on it too heavily, that provides a short mini-campaign for new players and games masters before the main Sartar campaign kicks off. The cover art is done and I’ve got one of the HiG regulars , Xavier Llobet, for the internals. Its all coming together nicely this one.

  The Road Less Travelled. D101’s first non-Gloranthan supplement. Its a Questworld for Generic Fantasy, using the setting and adventure from OpenQuest. I admit I stalled for a while on this one, because I didn’t want it to be a lightweight conversion of text that is effectively free and I wanted to make sure I had enough ideas to make it a proper HQ release of its own. I’m satisfied that I’ve done this now, and I’ve started work fleshing it out for a Dec release.

  …also another unannounced HQ project may see the light before the end of this year which is a lot shorter and much much different from all the fantasy stuff that’s been released/worked on so far.

  In stuff that’s been worked on by others, Nathan is beavering away on Empire’s Rising a four part adventure for OpenQuest and John Ossoway is chipping away at the Hard sci-fi epic that is River of Heaven. As well as the previously announced HeroQuest version, John is now going to be using OpenQuest for a D100 version More about that soon.

  Relentless D101 marches on….

  Mirrored from Blog.

• I am the Happy Fun Publisher

  2009 Aug 31

  Time is squeezing in on me due to impending Newlet#2 (eta two weeks or less) and also prompted by the fact that its been a year and a month since D101’s first release (Hearts in Glorantha #1) this has triggered some pretty heavy reflection on where I’m at with D101.

  I think it can be easily summed up with one phrase “I am the Happy Fun Publisher”.

  To expand I’m happiest when this is a fun hobby, when it goes under ther radar with the Boss (the wife Rachel, my not so silent partner ), and there is a genuine joy about what I’m doing.  I recently had a big dose of the ‘must get this done’ grind for HiG#3 and OpenQuest and it sucketh mightily.

  I’ve recently had a huge delusion of grandeur where I pump out the books at the going rate of the ‘Industry, what ever badly inflated price that is, and somehow next year I can give up my day job (as a web developer) . In reality I love my job, it suits me down to the ground and I like the people I work with, and now is not the time to go freelance. I also know that if I went full time with D101 at this point in time I would hate it. I’m never going to say never, but if one day it does happen it will be from a much stronger position than I’m currently in. It will will be an inevitable step that flows with the way my life is going.

  Nope I’m doing D101 as a hobby, with perhaps a higher dedication and sense of professionalism, in the same way that some people play sports or spend hours playing World of Warcraft.

  So what does this mean in practical terms;

  • I’m going to carry on with the same scatter gun approach to publishing, announcing books here and there, taking my time to deliver oblivious to deadlines whooshing by and occasionally dumping stuff that didn’t work out.  I’m focusing on the Fun, not something I feel I need to put out (except as a mental kick to get something that has been sitting on the Hard-drive in the nearly done phase for too long).  This allow me to actually carry on a few titles that I was considering dropping due to ‘time constraints’.  Immediate benefit of this is that I’m not planing on dropping my Gloranthan titles, as I was before in my previous serious frame of mind.
  • I’m not going to be charging the bizzare prices that RPG publishers seem to be charging these days (this is a rant in itself).  I’ll be charging what I think is a fair price, that people can afford yet still lets me pay out my small costs. RPGing is a social activity, RPG companies or small press should act in a social responsible way and foster a community based on fair play and inclusiveness. To do otherwise in the name for a quick buck means that the Hobby, never mind the so called ‘Industry’, is fucked.  If that means people don’t consider D101 a proper games company, then fuck’ em.  Immediate effect of this is that I’m dropping the print price of OpenQuest to the more reasonable £10.

  So that’s where I stand, having fun, releasing what I want, having a laugh with mates and not turning D101 into a joyless must do enterprise.

  Hello my name’s Newt and  I am the Happy Fun Publisher.

  Mirrored from Blog.

• D101’s direction

  2009 Aug 31

  D101’s Wave 2 (publishing its own games) is firmly here, hitting the shores and reaching the people and with it came a firm realisation (or perhaps the obvious slapping me in the face) of where I’m going with this.

  In short ‘Its all about the Story’.

  My favourite Roleplaying experiences have always been those where you remember the game play sessions by the stories that people tell afterwards.  Please excuse me if I look bored to high heaven if you wander up to me and tell me about your favourite character and what awesome powers they have or how system X hits the sweet spot for play.  These things don’t do it for me.

  These are the three things I’m I looking for in a ’story-telling’ roleplaying game.

  • Flexible and easy to learn. Story telling often requires you be inventive on the fly. I want a game systems that support me as I make things up. I don’t want a large overhead of confused players as we have to roll out a new rule to cover the situation that’s cropped up in play.  I want the system to be straightforward, not necessary rules-lite, so that it can blend into the background and let the fun and the story take over.
    
  • Make the best use of the system features. I want to produce games  that encourage and reward story telling and have clever systems that channel, not force, play in this direction.
    
  • Violence is not the only option. I want to cut down on the amount of random violence that occurs in my games due to players exerting their character’s superiority over npcs.  As big a fan as I am of Sword and Sorcery and the Action Movie genres, I getting sick of the ‘toys for the boys’ approach that most RPGs take.    Its not just about having systems that can handle politics or ’social conflict’ its about presenting a world that actually encourages the players to be more than just walking weapons’ platforms.  Monkey , as much as it is filled with Wacky Kung-fu fighting, is a step in this direction.

  How we are going to do it

  • Trad systems with Story telling bias  for example OpenQuest.
  • New modern Storytelling systems purpose built for story telling, such as Wordplay and HeroQuest.

  I put the emphasis on ‘we’ here because D101 is already a collaborative enterprise. Hearts in Glorantha is one big collaboration and so was the production of OpenQuest.  This trend will continue when some of the upcoming projects I have in the pipeline come to light over the coming months.  This is perhaps the final point about D101’s Direction, while I remain the figure head and benevolent dictator for life, D101  has moved away from being my vehicle for self-publication and more of a collective. So if you have an idea for a book, that matches our direction, get in touch (newt@d101games.co.uk).

  Mirrored from Blog.