For the past six or seven years, me and my all-time-favorite band Iron Maiden have grown apart. Ever since their 2002 reunion, their overall playstyle has changed. I guess that's what has to be expected when there's suddenly three guitarists in the band and the main singer originally left because he had an issue with the fact that the band leader didn't want to experiment with the sound. Howvever that new progressive direction didn't gel with my personal taste, so I followed the albums but never got back into that "maiden-mania" I had back in the day. Albums full of complex 10-minute tracks tend to bore me, I was always more of a "blast me away in 3-minutes please" kind of guy.

With their latest release, Final Frontier, they seem to have put this new style to the max. I listened and was bored. In a way, I felt this one was even worse than the one before and couldn't seem to get much entertainment out of it. Then one thing changed--I had no replacement CDs with me. So I listened to this album with enforced patience while commuting. ...and my opinion changed. While none of the songs blast anyone out of his boots in 3 minutes, expecting that is doing them injustice. They were never designed for that (quite naturally, of course). So, Maiden-Mania kicked in and stayed. It's been a while guys! Up the Irons! :D

But enough of that, back to work! I missed to do an August update, anyways, but I was on vacation and had to free my mind for a while. The Gamemastering book and Kratas Adventures have made their way to the printers in the meantime, and the Cathay Player's Guide has been announced on Mongoose's site (I'll add it to ours as soon as the cover artwork has progressed enought to justify more than a thumbnail image). I'll also be prepping a couple of previews next week, as promised.

GenCon was a blast, as was the entire trip (which took us from DC to Indy to Chicago). I'm kinda glad the baggage one can take on the plane is limited, otherwise I'd have had to take care of 5 bags.^^ Meeting the entire team was great and productive, and has led to a couple of new ideas we'll follow down in the future. Too bad I probably can't make it next year.

My second trip to the states, and my first to GenCon. Meeting a good chunk of the team in person, finally. Kathy and I will hit the plane next weekend, trying to see a little more than the convention halls. Not exactly a vacation (and certainly not a relaxing one), but it will be an interesting trip nonetheless!

So, what happened in the past month?

Vampire City has entered the playtesting stage, which will last until after GenCon. Early feedback has been very positive, can't wait to see how the other groups feel about it as well. A bunch of stuff left to do, mostly artwork and layout. We realized that we don't have an option for sparkling Vampires in there, which is probably a good thing unless you are a Twilight fan! :D

The Gamemastering book went through editing and will hit the streets in November. I still have to update our website on that new bit, however. We got a new editor aboard, who will help out on other projects as well (mostly Earthdawn and Equinox). I'm hoping to get a preview of this out to you in due course!

Speaking of Earthdawn, we're working on Kratas Adventures and the Cathay books. This was slow going due to the heat wave that hit Germany for the past weeks (and is hopefully over now). Artwork previews for Cathay will follow likely after GenCon, too. Work on that is progressing, but the Cathay books need much more art and attention than expected. Kratas Adventures went through a final editing pass and is in layout at the moment.
In-between, we updated the print files for the Gamemaster's Guide again, which will go into a second printing later this year (last time it didn't, there was enough stock left).

Momentum on Equinox has increased in the meanwhile. We have organized a bit differently and assigned specific tasks for the past weeks, which helped a lot to get forward and out of the maze we were in. Some awesome writing was added in the meantime, which makes the game get better and more complete every week. However, still too much to do there before we can even think of a release date at this stage (sorry). But then, no one said writing and developing games from scratch was easy!

I'll be taking a couple of interesting manuscripts and proposals with me to the states, for reading/editing during the flights and other downtime we have (which probably won't be much, but still...).

The official distinction between amateurs and professionals is that pros do whatever they do for a living. However, someone "being amateurish" is often used as insult, which kind of gives the original term a bad taste.

The bad thing about the distinction between amateurs and professionals is that it doesn't refer to skill at all. You might think that, if someone makes a living of whatever he does, he has to be good at it. Unfortunately this is not always the case--as you probably know from your own encounters with such an "expert." On the other hand, you can have every skilled amateurs outmatching many professionals--because they love what they are doing and believe in doing it right.

This is, and I am proud to say it, the case in our team. We set high standards for ourselves back in the very beginnings, and somehow managed to keep true to those throughout all these years. Our standards ensure that everyone has to work on a professional level, or at least attempt to meet that goal by training and help from the others. All of us continually increase our skills, and stay true to what we do best (which varies--some focus on rules and mechanics, others on editing, some on writing, and so on.

Of course, this led to a good number of people coming and going, the team has been changing a lot over time. We actively seek new blood, and frequently recruit people from the fanbase who want to get into developing the games they play. It's an enjoyable hobby, especially in the company of all these fine people.

You may have noticed our competition for building up the Earthdawn Adventure Resource. I always wanted to have a free online resource for adventure ideas specifically for Earthdawn, and I suppose many gamemasters looking for inspiration will be glad to use it. Become a part of it! Every gamemaster has adventure ideas flying around which can be turned into a suitable adventure framework--all it takes is a little bit of typing, a check for grammar and ED3-style wording, and off it goes. Face it: while there prizes to win, the real prize here is the Earthdawn Adventure Resource itself. With enough submissions, everyone wins.

Beyond that, May has been busy as usual. We finished up work on the Shards Collection Volume Two and started on the layouts for Cathay: The Five Kingdoms. I might present a couple of artwork previews in the next months, depending on how things go. (We'll also ponder doing a PDF preview on the books, but that's just a stray thought at the moment.) We have Vampire City almost ready for playtesting and received the initial translation for the Gamemastering book, so things are moving on the Pro-Indie front as well. For the latter, I am looking for an editor (native speakers only, send me a message if you are interested).

However, I've been running low for a while and needed a vacation to recharge my batteries. Juggling a handful of projects at the same time is something I got used to over the years, but Equinox is quite a big one sucking a lot of energy. I want to do it right, so I chase down a lot of alleys to ensure I don't miss an opportunity. While that's part of the reason why it takes so long to develop the game, it's also easy to get lost in that maze of alleys! Leaving things alone for a couple of days helped a lot to get back with a clear mind and a better idea of charging the project.

That said, back to it!

Here's an interview with me from the Roleplay Convention, which took place last weekend. Thanks for the DORP guys for being interested. And for the cookies! (Sadly, the whole thing is in german--click here for a version with subtitles!)



While we are at it, here is an interview with Frank Tarcikowski about our Barbaren! game:

In regards to progress, it's been a mixed bag for the past two months.

The good: for Earthdawn, we finished Nations of Barsaive Volume 2: Serpent River, the novel Scars by Caroline Spector, and also released the Character Toolkit. For Fading Suns, we submitted a first draft of the Third Edition rules to Holistic. We also brought Vampire City (Pro-Indie) into good shape (only a few bits missing before it goes to playtesting). I've also made progress on Equinox to get the Player's Guide fully outlined (working on the Gamemaster's Guide), identifying the missing bits. I have a vacation coming up to deal with those! The Gamemastering book translation seems to be on time, we expect to get the manuscript by the end of this month. Oh, and there's finally a new Earthdawn fanzine!

The bad: the translator who is doing the Barbarians! translation is not responding to our mails anymore. Not sure what the problem is, but the deadline is over (for release at GenCon at least) and there's no way for us to reach him. If you are the translator and read this: check your spamfilter settings and get in touch! No wories, we'd just like to know what happened! On Equinox, there's much more stuff to do but everyone on the team is busy with our other lines (that's a good thing, but means EX doesn't get as much love as I'd had hoped).

The german Roleplay Convention (RPC) is coming up next weekend. I have a couple of business-related talks to do and will likely give an interview for Dorp-TV again (in case you missed me on YouTube!).

Btw, anyone notice our April's Fools entry in the news? I've added it below for those who missed it:

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Explore Kaer RedBrick at GenCon!

After being part of several european game conventions in the past years, we are finally making it over the pond with a larger booth than ever! Over 100 square meters and two levels in size, Kaer RedBrick will not only provide a sales booth and game tables, but also a dungeon maze to be explored by our daring customers!

Make sure you are there when Kaer RedBrick opens its gates on August 5, inviting you to explore its bowels for treasure and rare items.

The following daily events are scheduled at Kaer RedBrick:

10am: Opening of the Gates Ceremony
Listen to the fanfares and be the first to solve the riddle to enter our dungeon. Stunning prizes every day!

11am-13pm: Kaer Exploration
Enter the maze behind our sales desk and explore the dark depths of Kaer RedBrick. Hidden treasure (such as the glowing Astral dice) can be found throughout the kaer. Watch out for Horror constructs and other nasties!

14pm-18pm: Demo Games
Six game tables will host demo games for all our game lines. Aside from Earthdawn Third Edition, Western City and Barbarians!, you will be able to playtest Fading Suns Third Edition and Equinox. Games start every hour. Note: Registration at the booth, as these events take place in the exhibitor's hall.

All Night
Enjoy full-scale adventures run by our experienced gamemasters all night outside the exhibit hall. Each session is expected to run for 4 to 6 hours. Registration via the usual GenCon services.

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...which is why this blog entry doesn't have a thousand words, but the cover preview for Nations of Barsaive Volume 2: Serpent River:

I've become the family chef. It's unusual for me, and I never expected to end up cooking regularly. My mom tried to teach me and failed. My Ex tried and failed. It's not that I didn't get it, more a lack of interest (plus various disgusted expressions over the stuff I did prepare^^). Ordering in or going out was pretty normal for over a decade, and cooking at home was basically heating up pre-made stuff from cans, packs, and bottles. Peeling potatoes? Get out of my way!

However, with the birth of our son, things changed. We went for self-made baby food when the time was right. Things went on from there and over the past year or so, I ended up cooking on a regular basis. It was a chore early on, but kinda turned into another hobby really. I guess an invitation for dinner at our place can no longer be considered a threat!

In RedBrick-land, things are going well. Here's the usual breakdown by game line:

Earthdawn: After sending the Namegivers of Barsaive book to the printers, I've spent the last two weeks or so compiling a list of possible illustrations for Cathay, which is now being assigned to various artists. It's the first time we are working with an art budget, which made the task somewhat daunting. I hope it will work out well! We have started two larger projects for Earthdawn sourcebooks, Iopos and Elven Nations. Both are still in their early steps and will take a while to be written and developed, but we're quite active behind the scenes in regards to future material. For those who watch us and our associated websites, there is a small easteregg. Not a biggie, but a nice move for those who pay attention.

Fading Suns Third Edition is shaping up at an increased pace. The playtest/testread version of the core rulebook I mentioned last time is almost ready and will go out to a number of selected people soon.

Equinox: Still moving this forward at a high personal priority, with several important parts of the mechanical framework set down (mainly how character building and advancement works). There's still a lot to be done, but we're getting there one page at a time.

Planning for GenCon 2010 is basically done. We've finished travel plans and booked flights and are now going through the last details (car rental, hotels, places to visit along the route, etc). Can't wait, it's less than 6 months away!

Oh, and the Warhammer 3 playtest went pretty well. We were playing the demo adventure from the box, and had a blast. The game is fun throughout, and even surprised me on how well it works. For example, I had thought the Progress Trackers and Stance Meters being a bit too gimmicky, but they work very well and add a lot to the game. Won't miss them. Fantasy Flight Games and my credit card have untimately sealed their friendship.

2010 starts off brilliantly. Kathy and I are layouting the Namegivers of Barsaive book, which will be released next month. Due to a schedule hiccup, the book will get printed and distributed right away--basically as soon as we have uploaded the print files to Mongoose. We're currently preparing a preview for everyone, which will likely be released next week to sweeten the wait.

Work on Equinox is continuing strongly. The mechanics bits I have been chewing away on are almost there, and I am spending every spare minute I have to get them straight. There's basically a feedback round with the team every other day at the moment. Hank and Angus have written two terrific pieces on background and setting for the game, and I am really looking forward to put all those bits and pieces into perspective.

The Fading Suns Third Edition team is currently working on a first playtest/testread version of the core rulebook, which will be shared with a number of people for feedback somewhere soon. Things are definitely moving behind the curtains.

I am currently building an artist team for Cathay: The Five Kingdoms (release due in December 2010), and can confirm that Jeff Laubenstein is happy to be aboard for this project--among others like Peter Tikos, David Wright (who worked on Kratas as well), and of course Kathy Schad. The cover artwork will be done my Paul Tobin, who also did the Namegivers cover for us.

In the spare time I have left, I'm reading Warhammer Third Edition at the moment, preparing for a testdrive in early February. The game looks very good so far (impressive even), and I haven't been turned down by all those gimmicks coming with it. It's very different from previous editions and has some pretty cool ideas in it. If the game holds up to it's promise during play, we'll be in for a lot of fun this year (especially with that campaign box coming out somewhere soon).

With Christmas over, it's time to review the year behind us. To get this straight: 2009 was like Blood Wood. A year both beautiful and terrible, wildly successful on the business side but showing it's thorns on every occasion in private matters.

It took us the better half of the year to get our new business model on track and Earthdawn Third Edition out on the shelves. A lot of work went into that, and it has been taxing for the entire team. We're immensely proud on the result, and enjoy being able to present our revised and revamped game to a wider audience.

While the rest of the year saw numerous releases for Earthdawn Third Edition--one book each month--all other lines went to the backburner because it took all our ressources to get there. Likewise, we needed to wait for the first royalty report to arrive to get back into the game. Fortunately, the report indicated success--the new business model works!

For 2010, we have bigger plans. Equinox and Fading Suns Third Edition will likely (and finally) see the light of day. Earthdawn will continue with an ambitious release plan (we have no less than six titles planned for next year, with more stuff being developed in the background and a couple of novels to boot). Our Pro-Indie line has several titles in the works, including translations of our bestsellers and Barbaren! (Barbarians!). We're not yet sure about the future of the Blue Planet and Age of Legend 4e lines, but plans for those are being made in our darkest back chambers.

So much for a short review and forecast. Sorry it's not as detailed or lengthy as it was in past years, but there are a lot of things that don't need to be discussed again (the aforementioned terrible side of 2009). We're looking at a bright future, and a great new year 2010! Maybe we even meet up at GenCon in August?

Where are my skyscrapers and neon signs to make this time of the year more Cyberpunk? I mean--leaving for work when it's still dark, returning when it gets dark, cold wind blowing in your face while it rains endlessly. A perfect start if you ask me...

On the bright side, we enjoyed a little vacation before the dark days really started and spent a couple of days down at the Bodensee. Kathy was our host, and we had a real blast. I've never been to that lake before, and am convinced this wasn't the last time!

So, what are we doing these days? Frantically developing the Namegivers of Barsaive book for one--fifteen Disciplines in there needed to be redesigned for Third Edition. Eike-Christian Bertram (aka arma on the forums) spearheaded the design for these, and it's coming together quite nicely. The final book will be released a little later than expected due to the complexity of the design process, but the book is still slated for release in the first quarter of 2010.

That's it for now, actually. Not much to report!