18 hours left and we passed a stretch goal
6 months ago
– Sat, Jun 29, 2024 at 01:26:56 PM
Well, you did it. You crossed the $10,000 threshold, and we unlocked the placeholder ribbon. It might not seem much, but for me, it is. Why? I went into this thinking I would not succeed.
I am a pessimist by nature, and this has plagued me since I was a child. When I had this idea, I thought I'd be lucky even to fund it. When we did, I was happy. As the amount slowly increased, for me, I was surprised. I passed my wildest expectations.
I have nothing much to add here. Nothing insightful. All I want to say is thank you.
Everything is on track
6 months ago
– Fri, Jun 28, 2024 at 10:03:51 AM
Just a quick update.
We are heading into the final stretch, and everything is on track. While the campaign has been going on, I have been plugging away at art descriptions, reviewing the manuscript, looking for typos, and cleaning up the Bibliography.
What still needs to be done is the following:
- A full, rough layout allows the overall look to reveal itself.
- New eyes have not seen the manuscript so that proofreading can be done.
- Finishing up the playtesting (there are three separate groups) going on so that the rules can be locked down.
- Get the book to the printer.
- Get the book to you.
In all, things are moving along nicely.
Five days to go
7 months ago
– Mon, Jun 24, 2024 at 12:56:17 PM
With just five days left in the campaign, I'm excited to share what the future holds!
While working on this new edition, I ended up overwriting the manuscript significantly. To manage the word count, I had to cut a lot of material—so much, in fact, that I now have about four follow-up books in various stages of completion. Plus, there are two mini-settings I want to compile into something special and three adventures from the opening act of the campaign (yes, it's happening, and the rough breakdown is done). Curious about what's coming next? Read on!
Book One: Threats (85% done) Many creatures didn't make it into the final manuscript. This book will include all of them and others that were meant to be in other books, and should be considered a replacement for the Bestiary book still in print.
Book Two: Magic (80% done) The title says it all. This book adds new spells and Alchemical Arts, including rules for Witchcraft, Black & White Magic, Pow-wow folk magic, Talismans, and nature magic. It also features Charismata & Miracles, and maybe a few other surprises, but I still need to fine-tune a few rules. Expect new professions tied to each style of magic as well.
Book Three: Secretum Societatibus (70% done) Secretum Societatibus, or Secret Societies, delves into the mysterious. This book goes deeper into the Templars and Rosicrucians and introduces the Freemasons. It also explores other real and fictional groups throughout history, with secret professions to match each new group.
Book Four: Guidebook to the Colonies (60% done) I had to cut a lot from the manuscript, and you'll find it all here. This isn't just a random collection; it focuses on specific topics to flesh out the world of Colonial Gothic, including many new professions.
Book Five: War (25% done) This book is still in bits and pieces, with some concepts more fleshed out than others. It's not my top priority right now. Most of this content was pulled from the manuscript and includes fragments from my previous attempts to write this challenging book.
Adventure 1: The Affair of Philadelphia (85% done) A reworking of the original adventure, now refined to serve as the starting point of the new campaign. The focus has shifted, and the entire second part is gone.
Adventure 2: [Title is a Secret] (90% done) I wrote this new adventure while working on the Colonial Gothic manuscript. This adventure made me rethink parts of the original campaign and serves as the midpoint of the opening act.
Adventure 3: The Siege of Boston (85% done) This one may seem familiar, but it's different. It finishes the campaign's opening salvo and sets the stage for what's to come.
There you have it! It looks like a lot, but I have no writer's block for the first time in ages. Seeing all the writing pieces put together and shaping new separate books is a great feeling. It feels good.
Sometimes, size does matter
7 months ago
– Wed, Jun 19, 2024 at 04:54:26 AM
So, for the past couple of weeks, a rough layout has occurred regarding the rulebook. At last count, there have been 15 attempts, all of which died out around Chapter 4. Three people have worked on them, and we felt they needed to be corrected. What did we feel wrong about? The overall look.
One of my early decisions was that Colonial Gothic 4E would look different. I wanted to move away from each version's previous art style and feel. This design choice is apparent in the cover art of the book. It perfectly captures the starting point of the game's timeline (the end of the Battle of Lexington and Concord) and hides the secrets behind the scenes. The secrets? There are things in the shadows no one knows about.
Compare this with the cover of Colonial Gothic 3E. The painting depicts a fife and drummer leading the Continental Army into battle. It is a simple painting; it captures the tone of the time and is very straightforward in its approach. Yet, look at the drummer. What does he know? He looks at you in such a way that you cannot help but think that he knows something. What this "something" is is left up to the viewer. For me, this "something" is the drummer knowing that the shadows hold threats that will soon be faced. That one painting perfectly captures the game and is one of my favorite pieces depicting the war.
Why the art lesson? It demonstrates just some of the thoughts that go into this game. Nothing done is by happenstance. Nothing is written just "because". Everything you see serves a purpose, and even though it does not make sense at the time, eventually, it will.
This brings me to the book size. It was decided early on that the book would be 8.5x11. After all, if this new edition was going to show how different it was, then a change in size would be needed. So, a few of us went to work sketching out page designs, testing different font combinations, and paying close attention to how the page would look. We worked on a rough layout when we thought we had the right one.
Then, we hit Chapter 4.
There is nothing wrong with the chapter. Once we had four chapters finished, we had a better feel of the book's look. Looking at the spread and doing a rough staple binding, we could see what the book would feel and look like once it was done. Seeing the sample chapters, we would hate what we saw, so we would start over again.
Around rough layout number 12, we all knew what was wrong, but no one wanted to say it. So, like Sisyphus, we would start over. Finally, after seeing rough layout number 15, we all said what we knew: 8.5x11 did not work. To drive home the point, someone did a quick mockup of two chapters using the page size all Rogue Games books use, which is 6x9.
The result? The book felt right; it looked better, but more importantly, it read better.
I alluded to this in a private Facebook post; I thought about it all day and did not sleep because I was still ruminating. Heck, I am writing this after only 2-hours of sleep because of this ruminating. This update is this long, so I could put into context why certain choices are made.
I have decided to change the book size to 6x9. I know there will be some who do not like this choice. I also know there will be many who do like this choice. Any decision I make will always make someone unhappy. However, in the end, what the book wants and needs matters.
So the book is going to be 6x9.
Character Backgrounds
7 months ago
– Fri, Jun 14, 2024 at 12:34:23 PM
Character backgrounds have always been part of Colonial Gothic. I created them for two reasons. First, it provided a means to understand the period by giving you something to latch on to. The second reason, and upon reflection, was a bad idea.
I now feel it was a bad idea because it set up a game function that did not fit the background. I also feel now that it built assumptions into the game. For example, why is a Native Born defined by a set of mandatory skills? Also, why do these skills have an implicit bias? This assumes that all Natives have the same traits and basic skills. Historically, this was not even the case.
While writing the character creation chapter, I treated backgrounds as just those. I looked at them as another way to pull a player into the period and give them some sense of where their character came from. Also, since I brought over templates that were published in The Player Companion and turned them into professions, there was no need to make backgrounds anything more than just backgrounds.
So, what do backgrounds look like? Here is an example.
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Frontier Colonist
Though most colonists are located in growing urban centers and bustling seaports, some shun this life in favor of a rougher, freer existence along the frontier. Whether from New York’s wilds, the mountains of the Carolinas, or the largely unexplored western lands of Ohio and Kentucky, places within the frontier are mostly “uncivilized.” Facing threats from nature and the Indigenous nations, as well as others who have malice within their hearts, those living along the frontier suspect the land is filled with more dangers than they realize—and some know firsthand that there are unspeakable horrors preying upon the innocent, far more dangerous than the wilderness.
Frontier colonists are tough and more concerned with survival than with how much money they have. Though some dismiss them as nothing more than stubborn, uneducated dolts, the fact is that these Colonists are the Colonies’ first line of defense against trouble. Besides being harsh in nature, those living along the frontier have a reputation for having the strength of body and heart. Choosing this background for your character means you are strong because you have endured and survived numerous hardships far removed from civilization.
No one questions their fortitude. Though the urban centers are seen by many as being the heart of the independence movement, along the frontier, you hear the righteous call for independence. Memories of the French and Indian War still linger, as well as Pontiac’s Rebellion and countless raids suffered at the hands of the French and those on the warpath. Innumerable brave men and women have died on the frontier, so colonists are accustomed to looking after their own without any help from the military—whether that military is Colonial or British.
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Reading this over again, I am pleased that I have decided to make the change. It accomplishes what I set out to do and provides a good hook on the road, creating your character.
