The big change is the addition of the bookcreator plugin. Once I get it working correctly, I should have a post here describing it in detail.

Yet, this year promises a lot more. Things have changed for the better.

Positive Changes

1. I write for Nevermet Press (new setting coming on Jan 11th!)
2. I became a layout/editor for Basic Fantasy.
3. My friend, Jeff, has a really good board game ready for market.
4. I have a 2hr window on Saturday to write that doesn’t get moved.

More on all of this later. Suffice it to say, that I hope to have a lot more content here in 2010.

Other changes for this site include a more narrow focus:

Main Focus for RPG games will be a focus on Microlite20 and Action! System only.
Bullet points

• Mnemosyne and MUSE will continue to have a wiki, but will share space with a hypertext M20.
• Will concentrate on creating add-ons in PocketMod, ODF, and PDF formats.
• Hope to create a ‘just right’ sized carrying case for a PocketMod.
• Pre-made PocketMods for sale at DriveThru RPG

For other games, I hope to collorate with a friend of mine on his projects as well as a few of my own. My friend, Jeff, has created a board game of his own and has ideas for several CCG type card games. In addition to my own ideas, we hope that this collaboration will lead to better implementation of our ideas. (As a side note, ideas are a dime a dozen. What is important is implementation.

For the blog, I hope to post once or twice a week. Posts will vary to things like variant rules to existing games or combining games you may already own. Of course, I love card games, so be prepared for various Rook(TM), UNO(TM), or playing card variants.

Happy 2009 everyone. I hope to do more to serve the gaming community and, of course, build readership in the new year.

Rook(TM) and UNO(TM) are registered trademarks of Hasbro, Inc.

More later.

So far, negotiations for the teams is part-way finished. They are looking to have a 16 game season with no preseason. They are also incorporating a few changes similar to Canadian Football. Three point PAT from the 10 yard line, 4 point FGs from beyond 55 yards. No touchbacks or kneel downs.

Of more interest is an ability to ask the commissioner a question. I asked this morning about the availability of the old USFL stats. I suggested that publishing those stats in detail would be something that could add interest to the new league.

What I did not say is that the few of us that enjoy football board games could make teams for the various games. I doubt that Paydirt teams could be created, but maybe STATS has play by play information from the old USFL. (who knows?)

Keep an eye out for 2010. The new USFL is coming. Hooray!

More to come, just needed to write it down.

Microlite20 has a new domain. This is a great project that is an incredible resource for preserving all the old sourcebooks you may have. Microlite20 is the inspiration for MUSE, which I hope to publish in wiki form, soon. Unlike Microlite20, there’s a dearth of Action! System information to use, especially a bestiary. I’m working on it, really!

Also taking part of the Odyssey Authors Project. I presented an original idea and two story threads from my old prairiecomber site.

My friend SpiritualTramp is big into podcasting. He has five episodes of his series Archangel written so far.
1 2 3 4 5

I would like to do it, but we’ll see. For now, it is easier to write instead of speak.

I’ve also changed a few other things:

For example, I host Action! System files, but I have begun work on a revised version called Mnemosyne. This has also created a 10 page quick play system called MUSE – Magic Using Simple Expressions.

I’ve also planned on publishing Knock, a Craits variant, featuring an expandable deck. Thanks to the Guild of Blades, I hope to create beta cards in May 2008. When they are finished, the PDFs will be posted on the site.

I’m playing to two Statis-Pro Football league and host one of the sites. I hope to enjoy playing an old favorite once again. Game time: Fridays or Sundays, just call.

I have been working on a few things. I’ll update the current development page soon. Really.

I stopped the football project long enough to actually play Statis-Pro Football again. I have a pretty good team with a few holes to fill in the draft. I made the questionable call of not keeping a good RB. I am afraid that will haunt me.

Anyway, I have used yould to generate most of the Lenga language. This is the last piece in creating all the crunchy bits for the backstory of this world.

I have also stumbled upon an old usenet posting of a spell description language. I have modified it, adding an element and a few actions. Using it, I am translating the OGL spells from the SRD into the magic system I have created. It’s not as straight-forward as I would like. There is a bit of fuzziness in some of the descriptions. It also takes a while. There are even a few spells that do not translate, like Air Walk.

The goal is to have something that is more or less systematic in determining difficulty and power of a spell without making the player use a lot of math to create their own. I think this has been done. In the player’s book, it will basically show a spell, a description of the effects, a mana cost and a TN. To make a spell, a player must use simple sentences to describe the effect of the spell. Conjunctions cannot be used, only one verb per sentence.

For example, the Aid spell is described in the SRD this way:

Aid grants the target a +1 morale bonus on attack rolls and saves against fear effects, plus temporary hit points equal to 1d8 + caster level (to a maximum of 1d8+10 temporary hit points at caster level 10th).

This translate to:
Give target bonus against fear.
Give target temporary LIF.

Using the rules, the GM then figures out the Mana Cost (11) and TN (24).

One rule about Magic is that it is easier and cheaper for spells to do one simple thing. If a person casts two spells instead of a combined one, the breakdown would be:

Bonus against fear spell: Cost 5, TN 20
Give temp LIF points: Cost 5, TN 18.

If someone has time to cast two spells instead of a combined one, it is 1 point cheaper and about 10% more likely to work as intended.

Other spells demonstrate this more dramatically, like Animal Messenger, which I’ll detail later.

If it is on the website, it’s free. Can’t sell my ideas as yours, but otherwise do what you want with it. Expand it, shrink it, trash it, or more importantly, use it. Where does the money come in? Well, if you want something sooner rather than later, a few dollars moves the production up. Want something nowhere even mentioned on the site? Be my patron and I’ll make it for you. No risk. If you don’t like it, don’t pay and I’ll publish it on the website.

The areas that I intend to focus on are the following:

Football Simulation Game:
The free teams will be alternate reality teams. The NFL doesn’t allow free use of helmets or team names for free in a game. The players association doesn’t allow the use of a player’s name for free in a game. So, create an alternate universe where the USFL didn’t fold (copyright expired on USFL teams, logos, etc)

All the stats from the fall professional league (similar to the NFL) and the spring league (USFL) will be published. I figure you’ll want to know if the team you choose to play is actually any good.

Role Playing Games
Action-System! – Lots of stuff here. There will be a campaign setting called Lenga, two or more separate magic systems, a supers system, and links to other variations (like mecha). In fact, I plan on developing a completely different magic system every month in 2008. I’m going for never before done stuff, not a rehash of 5er or D20′s various systems.

D6 Mod7 – Everything done for the A!S will be translated to my weird variant. For some, rolling is just too odd.

Breakpoint – This will be the development of an idea that was posted on the RPG Lounge. I can’t find the author as both sites that originally held the information are gone. This system is a roll-under system. More than anything, I just want to see if it can be done.

Card Games:
Three themes here. One is the use of the Mavinian Deck. The other main focus will be creating card games based on the Dvorak rules. Lastly, I may get to games involving a standard 52 card deck.

Board Games:
This will be the smallest focus here. I may finish Aztec Parchisi, Takteek, or Babbage’s Engines, but time will tell.

See you soon!