Role playing game project development: A few words

Art for The Steel Road by: Zachary Viola

Fifty exotic weapons from around the world in one book, many of which have never been described in any role-playing game source I've ever seen (and I've been playing tabletop role-playing games since 1991!). This is the idea behind The Steel Road (formerly under the working title of Bare Steel & Drawn Blood).

Sounds simple doesn't it?

The reality is that this project has been in the works for months, with one artist devoted to producing the highest quality of art within the selected style.  Zach Viola has spent hundreds of hours producing art to simulate the theme of the book, that of a sketch book created by a traveling weapon merchant.  Developing content, coordinating art, laying out the project timeline, planning the crowdfunding, and making the release announcement have all been an exciting but busy job.

If you ever decide to develop such a sizeable project I hope you find it as enjoyable as I have.

A few things about project development for role-playing game material and crowdfunding it:

1) You should get estimates for completion dates from your artists.  I would recommend that you then add 20% to that timetable, to allow for any problems that come along with art development (illness, competing obligations, personal issues, etc.).

2)  Develop a realistic page count.  This is IMPORTANT!  Do NOT say, 'oh I'll create a 200 page source book and it will be awesome'.  Nope, therein lies problems.  Create an outline of the topics, resources, and materials you intend to include.  Develop your rough draft, allow pages for your art, and then look at what your expected page count will be (don't forget to include your copyright and any license statements you may need).   Once you have that, compare your art needs to your completion estimates and calculate your material development time.  Whether you have the art done in advance, or done once you know what your budget is from your crowdfunding, you MUST factor in the timeline for your crowdfunding effort as regards your fulfillment.  Don't be one of those guys who misses fulfillment because of poor planning.

3)  Budget your time for layout.  I do my own layout, then I correct it after feedback from my play testers and from my art director.  I allow about a week for every ten (10) pages of book, which is really much more time that I need.  This builds in more time in my project timeline for any difficulties I might encounter (software problems for example).

4)  Crowdfunding (oh boy)... firstly, let me state that I have had three successfully funded projects and one that hasn't.  I have some experience, but I'm not claiming to be an expert. (Disclaimer over) Some things you should remember from previous entries on this subject: use an email account devoted to your crowdfunding (because you will get marketing spam), promote well in advance and consistently, do NOT make grandiose claims (stick to the facts), be HONEST, and use your crowdfunding to make the product the best it can be and to fund its production.  Whether you use paid marketing/promotion or not is your decision (I've had little success with paid promotion and I stress LITTLE).  Target your goal for what it takes to produce the product, set any stretch goals to be realistically attainable improvements to the final product with a minimal increase to the cost of production (this is an ideal you want to strive for anyway).  Develop your kickstarter goal with a close eye on the math (do NOT forget to account for shipping costs, where applicable).  Treat your backers with the respect they deserve, be grateful for their support, and be genuine with your gratitude.

5) While your crowdfunding is underway you need to verify all your production points, complete any unfinished elements, and answer questions and respond to comment from your backers and prospective backers.

6) Fulfillment of your crowdfunding campaign must be timely. Do it right the first time so you can earn the respect and confidence (and, eventually trust) of your backers.  Admit any mistakes, remedy them, and be happy that you and your backers brought your project to life!

7) Once fulfillment is complete, bring your product to market.  I should have mentioned this well before now, but you must formulate how you are going to sell your product (if you intend to) after the crowdfunding is done. Put your marketing plan into action and keep working. Your business work load doesn't stop, so keep busy.

*****

Art by: Zachary Viola, from The Steel Road

So, there you have a simplified outline for developing your project.  There are fine points I hope to cover in future entries, but that will at least put you on the path to getting your project, your dream, beyond the cool idea stage and onto the 'held in your hand' stage.


The Steel Road (formerly under the working title of 'Bare Steel & Drawn Blood' (by: W.S. Quinton / Illustrated by: Zachary Viola)
(c) 2017 by W.S. Quinton {all art is copyright (c) by Zachary Viola (2017-2018)}

Now, here is a little insider news for you:

The crowdfunding campaign for The Steel Road is going to launch after fulfillment is done for Tarot Adventures, Book Two: Comet over Echo Rock (on kickstarter as of this writing). Please do support that project.  Its a cool adventure.

When I launch the campaign for The Steel Road it will have a really fantastic backer reward available for early backers during the first two days of the campaign.  (Yes, shameless self promotion)

So, here is what I'm doing for the campaign:

Its going to have PDF copy as well as POD code for backer rewards (the POD code allows the backer to order their hard copy at the cost of printing plus the shipping cost, this makes lower backer pledges possible, reduces costs, and should make fulfillment run quicker).  During the first two days, backers will get both for the bargain pledge of $8 and those backers will be eligible for the stretch goal rewards (yes, this is really what I'm doing).  After that early backer period is over, the PDF backer reward will be set at $10 and the PDF plus POD code will be set at $15, so early backers are basically getting the whole thing at half the pledge amount!

Stretch goals: Stretch goals will add a second POD code for hard cover edition of the book to all backers pledged for POD code backer levels.  As a second and, most likely, final stretch goal I will include a full description of the merchant caravan the narrator of the book operates.  This will give you a great NPC resource for your fantasy campaign.

Social Goals:  I've seen this done on a number of campaigns lately and I like the idea.  So, if we reach 1000 backers or more, I'll produce a third cover which will be specifically limited to KickStarter backers.  I'll send a POD code for that edition to all backers who backed at pledge levels with POD codes.

This campaign is designed to be simple to fulfill while providing fantastic value for backers.

So far, the largest number of backers I've had support a project has been 143.  For The Steel Road, I'm hoping to reach 1000 backers or more.  To do that I'm going to need your help!

So I'm asking this of each of you who are joining me on this adventure in self-publishing, writing, and game design; please do check out my KickStarter campaigns, support the projects you like, and share the links with others.  Doing that helps immensely.

Please do also +1 this entry, and share it with others to help spread the word.

*****

Thanks again for coming with me on this adventure.

I hope I'll see you here next time.

Comments and questions are most welcome!

Blood, Pain, and Power: Stygian Necromancy

In the history of the practice of magic there have often been those who bent their powers to evil.  Many a wizard has delved into the necromantic arts to garner power over death and the undead.  Their crimes mar the centuries in blood, suffering, and tragedy. The sum of their sins pales in comparison, to the horrors perpetrated by the Necromancer.

The Necromancer was a master of the darkest arts of magic.  By dint of power he possessed, he attracted followers of the most fearsome sort.  Among his followers the most powerful, and feared, were the Acolytes of Death.  These thirteen magicians were masters of the arts of necromancy and murder. They lent their power to the Necromancer's darkest and most secret rituals.  Through these rituals the Necromancer bought secrets of the arts of death and magic with the blood of his victims.  Those fell secrets, dreadful arts of the magic of death and souls, elevated the Necromancer and his Acolytes to new heights of power.

The Necromancer would go on to assemble a blasphemous tome of the darkest arts, which he used to instruct his followers.  This book, "Whispers of Persephone", contains secrets of the dark arts that had never before been known to mortals.

Among the secrets possessed by these practitioners of the darkest arts were the secrets of ritual sacrifice.  Through blood and pain, these magicians were able to enhance their power and become even more dreadful. Their path to power, paved in the suffering of their victims, drove them to commit unspeakable acts.

Curses upon those who seek the power of this tradition, and woe be unto those who fall victim to its adherents!

*****

Whispers of Persephone is a rpg source book and spellbook detailing the arcane tradition of Stygian Necromancy.  Illustrated by the remarkable Christian Martinez to be dark and beautiful, this book is a great resource for your campaign and looks great in your collection.  Whether used by players or against player characters, Whispers of Persephone is book for any campaign that wants their dark arts to be DARK again!

Coming to KickStarter Summer of 2018!

Thank you for joining me on my continuing adventure into writing and self-publishing.  I do hope you find these entries useful for reference and of aid to you in your own endeavors.


*If you have questions please comment below.

Copyright Notice:  Whispers of Persephone is copyright 2018 by W.S. Quinton
This blog entry is made as an introduction to the subject matter of that book, and no rights to the copyright of Whispers of Persephone are conveyed, implied, or otherwise transferred or commuted to any other person or entity.

Written for mature audiences and released under the Open Game License (as detailed in SRD5.1)

The Tarot Adventures continue

Today's entry isn't about the Kickstarter, its about something far more important, the story!

Good evening everyone.  As you know, I've had my crowdfunding campaign for the second book in the Tarot Adventures.  The second in a series I've planned as twenty-two books in length. It is, perhaps, needless to say that this is an ambitious project.  But in all things involving writing for fantasy the story is what is important.

So today I want to touch on the story going on in the Tarot Adventures a bit, beyond what is published on the pages dedicated to those individual books.

Tarot Adventures, Book One: The Draw of Glenfallow ~

When I wrote the first draft for this adventure I was focused on writing something that was setting neutral and easily portable into most fantasy campaigns.  When I write I like to give NPCs more than just stats.  I like to make them characters with a role to play in the story that is unfolding.  So to was the case with TDoG, Pieron had a key role in the story beyond being just the story hook.  I had written in example dialogue and provided background information for the game masters to use.  Players became invested, to varying degrees certainly, in Pieron. This became obvious as I was going over the feedback from the play testers.  {For more details see previous entries}

With the Tarot Adventures being created as a series, I came up with a number of adventure ideas to mold into a cohesive narrative.  So that is where we are today.  The Draw of Glenfallow has been well received by a number of people (see comments on the KickStarter page for Comet over Echo Rock for examples) who are now looking forward to what comes next.  So what comes next?

Tarot Adventures, Book Two: Comet over Echo Rock ~

Comet over Echo Rock pits the players against monsters whom Pieron wants dealt with.  They have an opportunity to further ingratiate themselves with the new lord, become more well known as heroes, and can begin to garner wealth and political clout.  Monsters in a silver mine have a very real and negative impact on a newly seated lord's wealth and credibility, so they have to go!

What about after CoER?  Well, Death comes to Glenfallow is the working title I'm using.  That book is being designed for characters of 3rd to 5th level, which is a level range that has a lot of possibilities to it.  Story hooks are planned for the side quest I've written (which I hope to put into Comet over Echo Rock if we can reach our last stretch goal). Look for a grim adventure that tests the player character's mettle and the player's ingenuity.  I think its going to be one of those adventures people play through and remember with a sense of triumph.

I hope you'll look at the KickStarter and/or Indiegogo campaigns for Comet over Echo Rock and get your copy by supporting the project.  Please do share the link to help it reach as many gaming tables as possible.  I hope that one day I'll find people talking about their shared experience of playing through the Tarot Adventures and how they overcame the adventures.  I'm writing adventures and material that I want people to enjoy, to remember, and come back to.

Thanks for joining me on my adventure into writing and self-publishing.  Remember I welcome your questions and comments so please do post them below.  I hope that if you are wanting to write and publish your own material that this blog provides you with some useful insights along the way.

Thank you all and I hope to see you next time!

50 Exotic Weapons from around the world in one book

Art by: Zachary Viola
From: The Steel Road
(c) 2017

Throughout history humanity has invented a wide array of weaponry.  Different cultures took different approaches to the development of their weapons due to resource availability, cultural values, and the necessity of overcoming their enemies.  While many weapons share particular features, such as blades, hard blunt ends, or pointy things that go in the other person; the diversity of weapons is quite impressive.


Role playing games have largely embraced European weapons.  On occasion you will see games that focus on unique fictional cultures with their own fantastic weapons.  You will also note a number of games that focus on China and Japan and draw heavily upon traditional and well known weaponry of those cultures. 


I am now announcing that I will be releasing an exotic weapon sourcebook this year. With art very near completion, I will be launching a KickStarter campaign once fulfillment for Comet over Echo Rock is complete, to fund production costs for this title.   The Steel Road contains details on weapons from far flung areas of the world.  The book is created in a sketchbook style, contains game mechanic information for each weapon, contains all original art by Zachary Viola (he's put in hundreds of hours illustrating this book), and details fifty exotic weapons from around the world and examples of an enchanted version of each. 


The Steel Road follows the journey of a fictional weapons merchant and chronicles the strange weapons he has encountered in far off lands. This provides a bit of a back story for your enjoyment as you journey around the world.


Great things about this book: It has a lot of resources for you to draw from as a player or as a game master; the art is outstanding (I'll be teasing out more of it in coming weeks); you can get it as a backer reward through the KickStarter campaign (and get it cheaper that way too);  you won't be waiting on it as its almost done now and should be completely done by the time the KickStarter campaign concludes; and it will be available in PDF and will be available for print on demand (available in both soft cover and hard cover options).


*****


Short post today, but if you have any comments or questions please leave them below and I'll get back to you as soon as I can.


Please do take a look at the Comet over Echo Rock Kickstarter campaign, pledge and share it around.  You'll support is greatly appreciated!


As always, thank you for joining me on my great adventure into writing and self-publishing.  I hope to see you next time.










Writing for the Dark Arts: Whispers of Persephone

As I worked on the design for Whispers of Persephone I found myself wandering down dark paths of thought.

What would motivate people to practice necromancy?  What reasons would they cling to in order to justify horrific acts?  What prize are they seeking at the expense of their humanity or even to jeopardize their immortal soul?  These questions circulated in my mind as I sought to put together a book that did justice to the dark arts of fantasy and myth.

For role-players it can be fun to be the bad guy, to practice arts few dare to embrace, and to do cool but icky things.  It makes your character stand out, affects the game experience, and can take your campaign into dark, strange, and wondrous territory.  Does your character practice the darkest arts because of an obsession or fear of death and dying?  Is the lure of power and having people fear your character what brought the interest in the necromantic arts to the fore?  Find your motivation, and it will help you to role-play your actions.

Lets start this discussion with one of the main premises of the book: Necromancy is a dark art of magic.

In many historic views on necromancy, the magics practiced were usually aimed at contacting and communicating with the dead.  This was seen as a means of garnering secrets, obtaining knowledge, and foretelling the future.  In my experience it has been very rare for magician characters to practice necromancy in this manner.  I have added elements to the practice of Stygian Necromancy to allow for such.

Legends, literature, and movies have brought dark stories of horrific practices of the necromantic arts to our awareness.  Rituals and spells of necromancy should possess those horrific traits associated with the darkest of arts.  Whether you are animating the dead as servants, or sacrificing the innocent to gain forbidden knowledge, the practices of necromancy should be reprehensible. 

I felt that if I wanted to produce a book about necromancy, that people would want to use, and that wouldn't just be disgusting flavor text, I would have to balance these aspects into carefully crafted concept.  I had to re-create the mystique, the horrific intent, and dreaded powers of the necromancer.  It has been a challenge to say the least.

*****

The craft, rituals, and spells of Necromancy:

Many of the existing, open game license spells for necromancy are definitely evil.  Bringing new game play features requires creating things that aren't covered in the existing rules, or making existing effects thematically appropriate to the practice of necromancy.  By way of example, using necromancy to gleam knowledge skirts closely upon many divination practices. Summoning the ghosts of the long dead appears to borrow heavily from conjuration and summoning.  Transformation into the form of a person who is now dead would seemingly be the province of alteration and transformation magics.  Therefore it is the underlying method of the magic that must determine its nature.  So when using necromancy to garner knowledge, you may be pouring the memory from the mind of a dying victim.  When you summon a ghost you may use trappings of consequence to that shade and make offerings of blood.  For tranformations into the form of another person, you may utilize the blood of that person in the spell of transformation.

Along with the thematic elements of effects one should be mindful of the game balance.  Necromancers should NOT be as well versed in all applications of magic just because you can formulate trappings for their processes.  The level of difficulty for practices of necromancy should be varied based upon the difficulty of the action relative to its place in the overall game mechanic.  A spell that makes a skull explode as a form of necromantic bomb, should not be as effective as fireball and should not be of the same level.  Finding a balance in design is critical as it is the goal for people to actually play the necromancers from Whispers of Persephone.   Crafting rituals and spells that make sense, that don't break game play, and that have the eerie and evil components make these dark arts DARK and playable.

*****

Stygian Necromancy

Did you ever want to play a specialist wizard and get more out of it than paying a little less to copy spells into your spell book?  I know I have.

Stygian Necromancy is designed to be playable, potent, darkly evil, and of use both as a playable pursuit of magic and as a practice in use by npcs (game masters I hope you love these bad guys!)

Blood rites, summoning of the dead, mind searing incantations, and spells of the foulest sorts are incorporated into this form of magic specialization.  Stygian Necromancy forces characters to perform evil acts as they ascend to power.  It presents reasons for having minions, for raising the dead, for blood sacrifices, and for the evil which men do in the pursuit of power.

The trappings of the arcane arts are an important part of the narrative.  A wizard's wand or staff is iconic.  So too must those trappings of the necromancer be so.  Its time to put the magic back into magical items, and for necromantic paraphernalia those items must be interesting and do icky things.  Look for the sacrificial daggers of the necromancers to be a feature readily associated with the practitioners of Stygian Necromancy.  Canopic jars, bottles of blood, and pieces of the anatomy of their victims can find interesting uses at the hands of these characters.

*****
I'll be releasing little tidbits about this project over the next few months.  Look for the KickStarter campaign announcement to be made on the Whispers of Persephone page.  I will also be providing glimpses into the art going into this book on that page once it becomes available. 

So gather your minions, and summon your allies, for darkness is rising with the restless dead.  Necromancers, claim your power.


Thank you for joining me on my adventure into writing and self-publishing.  I hope you'll join me next time as the journey continues.


*If you have questions please comment below.



Copyright Notice:  Whispers of Persephone is copyright 2018 by W.S. Quinton
This blog entry is made as an introduction to the subject matter of that book, and no rights to the copyright of Whispers of Persephone are conveyed, implied, or otherwise transferred or commuted to any other person or entity.

Third level Publisher: I think I just leveled up!

Cover Art by: Brian Lee
Lettering by: James Lee

I'm really very happy about how this KickStarter campaign has been progressing.  So far, nearly half of all the backers who supported The Draw of Glenfallow have already come out and pushed this campaign past its funding goal and very near to the first stretch goal.  {Thank you all for coming out early and making this campaign so very exciting!}

This blog is really about sharing my experiences in writing and publishing (that last part is a lot more complicated than I originally thought).   Those of you who are just now reading this blog for the first time are encouraged to go back and read my posts on who you're writing for and growing your audience as we're about to go into some of that.

Here's what I'm thinking, today January 20th, 2018 as I look at my KickStarter campaign that has been going on just a little over seven days.  As I look back to my first Kickstarter launch where I launched Tale of the Wizard's Eye, I didn't know if people would be interested.  I knew I had created an interesting adventure and that I had some really great art (thanks team!) but I wasn't certain how it would be received.  It took weeks to reach the funding goal.  When I launched the KickStarter campaign for Tarot Adventures, Book One: The Draw of Glenfallow  I saw an amazing turn out from those backers who had enjoyed ToTWE, and The Draw of Glenfallow funded fully in just a few days.  It went on to fund at more than 400% of goal and I could not be happier at the response I've received from those backers.  Throughout those campaigns I really tried to encourage questions and feedback from the backers. I want to create the best books I can, and knowing what people want to see is incredibly important.  I received some feedback that was surprising and very helpful (for example, I hadn't seriously contemplated adding in pre-generated characters but it turned out to be something that several people were wanting.).  So I am writing for and toward my audience as I continue the development of the Tarot Adventures, because I'm creating it for those backers who make it possible.

This goes back to my earlier statements about building and respecting your audience.  Your audience is NOT your personal money machine.  They are the people who are making it possible for you to create something and bring it to the world.  If you should make some money, that is great, I'm very happy for you and I hope you do make some money.  We all need to eat, after all 😉.  That said, be reasonable and fair to your backers.  Personally, I have a very narrow margin on my KickStarter campaigns.  I read somewhere that you should aim to make 30% in profitable revenue from your crowdfunding campaigns.  I have not been doing that.  Part of that is in my print costs and shipping costs.  I own that, and I'm not complaining, I just don't feel justified in jacking up costs for backers so I can line my own pockets.  My books are getting made, my artists are getting paid, and I'll make revenue on future sales I'm sure (once I become better are marketing those titles I'm sure).  So if you want to follow the model of making a profit on your crowdfunding, make certain to find a way to cut your print and shipping costs, but make certain your quality doesn't suffer.  Therein lies the trick.

What I want to point out to you is that Tarot Adventures, Book Two: Comet over Echo Rock had the same goal as TotWE and TDoG, and funded fully in just under four hours!  Yes the banner on the image above gives that away.  I was beyond thrilled when I saw that happen.  Almost all of the backers those first four hours were backers from TDoG.  I have to tell you, it felt amazing to see that kind of support.  I've been very fortunate in that I've had backers come back and support my titles because they have enjoyed what I've created in the past.  There is a certain amount of pressure to perform that is starting to grow on me, but I can handle that.  I want to continue to earn the support of my audience.   I like knowing that people are using my books in their games, and they are having fun, and that in some small way I've helped bring them a bit of joy and contributed to the memories they build together.  I think that is the real joy of writing whether you are a novelist, a comic book creator, a game designer, or a blogger, or what ever; there is a joy to be had from knowing that your words have an impact on people.

The Echo Rock Silver Mine by: Christian Martinez

The other thing I've noticed is the presence of my readers on this blog.  You've stuck by me here through shameless self-promotion.  You've been here reading when I've shared my mistakes.  You've been here when I've done things that weren't stupid and shared in my experiences as I've worked and struggled to grow Sinopa Publishing LLC.  Thank you for coming along on this adventure!

As it stands I feel like more people are finding my work, and joining the audience I'm writing for.  Each and every one of those people is important, not just for the money they spend, but for the experience they share with others.  My thought is that for each game master who buys my adventures, there are two or more people who are playing through those adventures.  So while one hundred and twenty-one backers made TDoG a reality, I am convinced that at least two hundred and fifty players explored Glenfallow Keep.  I can't put a price on that, and I hope you wouldn't either.

So I encourage you to create, and to do your best work each and every time.  Write because you enjoy it, design because its fun, and publish so that hundreds of people can explore your vision.  There is a lot to be said for bringing adventure to so many, and for playing that small role in helping friends build happy memories of their time playing together.

I hope you'll also help to support my work and spread the word to others.  So please do take a look at the KickStarter campaign for Comet over Echo Rock, support it if you can, and please do share the link with others.  Each share on social media gives others the chance to join in this shared experience, and I appreciate every player you may help bring to Glenfallow to explore the Tarot Adventures.




In coming entries I'll be speaking about other projects coming from people who I'm acquainted with.  I have friends who are producing a card game, and I've been fortunate enough to get to the know the folks at Darkslinger comics who are producing an amazing title called Ghost Assassin.  I'll be writing a review of it as I get glimpses into that.  That review will be in my book review blog.

Thank you all for joining me on my adventure into writing and publishing.  I hope to see you next time!

Darkslinger Mafia Podcast Episode 14: Interview With William Sam Quinton