We got one step left. Oh and something cool in store...
almost 2 years ago – Tue, May 03, 2022 at 09:01:16 PM

So where are we, you ask?

Somebody grab that band Europe cause we're on "The Final Countdown" doo doo doo doo, doo doo doo doo doo! JK, but we're mad close, ya'll! We just finished up on the art, and Draconick has finished up his last editing pass! So it's down to Francita to get this layout in and we'll be off to the printer! I'm super excited about this, folks! 

It's been a long time coming and now that it's down to a waiting game and a little bit of logistics before we get our books, I'm honestly anxious too. Anxiety has been a big part of this process as I'm learning things as I go despite having done so so so so much studying on the actual game design part of the process ahead of time. So I gotta tell ya'll, it's a relief to be at this stage and I'm so thankful for my team and you, backer! 

What's next?

Well, at the moment. It's a waiting game. I have a few small things to take care of, and plans for quick game aids that I'll put out for free (maybe one for sale, but it's in a really early brainstorming phase). In the meantime...

We got an AP ya'll! WOOOOO!

That's right, backers! Wanna see me GM Tide Breaker? We got an all black cast. #AllBlackEverything. Check out myself, @scholasticdragn, @synxiecbeta, and @foxxiieternal on twitch! We play every other Sundays at 430pm at Neon Lights Roleplay twitch!

Slow news day, yall.
about 2 years ago – Sun, Apr 03, 2022 at 12:34:04 PM

Still working. 

All the backer art is done now (which for clarification's sake is part of the art that is featured in the book and necessary for the book to be completed) and that puts us on the final stretch for art. At the rate we're going should be another month or two tops if nothing delays us. 

Editing is moving along. Draconick is about half way through the book and moving along at a steady pace. Once he's done, I gotta take one more peak at the book and clear up the comments he's left in and we're moving on to editing. 

Francita is working on the second part of the character sheet and some icons for the inside of the book while waiting for the rest of the team to wrap up. 

As for me? I'm exhausted. My IRL job has been critically short staffed and I'm up to my ears in overtime. I'm working on a stretch goal for a friend's campaign (check out  Ariadne and Bob ) which is gonna be dope. 

Also...

April Fools. Its a big announcement!

ACTUAL PLAY TIME YALLLLL

NeonLightsRoleplay is hosting an Tide Breaker actual play featuring ya boy as DM check us out Bi Weekly starting this Sunday 

See ya soon and keep it heroic!

Another long month.
about 2 years ago – Tue, Feb 22, 2022 at 09:30:38 PM

Good news though.

Draconick is plugging away at the edits. Francita is making progress on some cool icons (which for our discord backers we'll be throwing in as server emotes. We're cool like that). Backer art rewards are starting to come in and I'm pretty stoked about that. On my end, I'm busy handling logistics and working on character sheets for rewards in between taking on a freelance assignment here and there, alongside my irl full time gig.

Definitely in a better place than I was last month and things feel like they are starting to get a bit clearer. We've but a few hurdles left and once we're beyond them it'll just be a waiting game until I get to the last step of handling all of the printing/shipping stuff. Thankfully, I'll have more help with that which is going to be pretty dope!

Once the aforementioned backer art is finished, I'll post them up alongside the character sheets (after getting the go ahead from the backer's in the even that the character designs are like WAY off from what was submitted in our question forms)alongside the art itself. ETA for that is probably a month or two at the rate we're going now, but let's keep our fingers crossed. When that's done, we'll be on the final stretch for art in general and so much closer to getting to layout. 

I don't know about YOU, backer, but I'm EXPLODING with excitement to see everything hit the layout stage. If you've seen the Tide Breaker Quickstart you'd be pretty hype too! Francita has been on her Showstopper groove with this stuff and has been itching to get tagged in to show ya'll what she's really capable of! 

So tell me, backers. You excited too? 

Stretch Goals done!
about 2 years ago – Sat, Jan 29, 2022 at 05:49:37 AM

I said what I said, #ttrpg.

Nah, for real though. Snark aside, Ewen C. just dropped his signature tables that are now going to be included with Tide Breaker! Look forward to 20 pages of new content to help you shape your characters, locations, and more with the next release! 

Gonna keep it a buck, backers: I'm pretty excited about what Ewen did here. Once this passes editing, we'll be all set with all of the written content for the game, stretch goals and all! I could talk this up more, but I think it might be better to give ya'll a sneak peak of what's in store right?

For context, these d66 tables come with additional instructions for use and the first column provided for each entry is a prefix with the following being a suffix that are rolled separately and combined. I'll be adding those in with a cool font for extra style points later. 

As you can see, if you say rolled... a 42 on the first column,  you'd get "Infernal". Pair that up with a 46 on the following column to create "Infernal Ring Blades"! These tables are going to be a great resource for players looking for inspiration for their various abilities! Pair the results up with the game's existing Functions and watch those bad guys melt in the face of your badass arsenal! 

And a peak into my month.

This news isn't as great. It's been a rough start this year, folk. I caught Covid and passed it along to everyone in the house. We're fine now, but all of us being sick for the majority of this year has had a damper on our spirits. We're all vaxxed, so it could have been worse, but I'm still bummed out as even being as careful as we were, this new strain still caught up to us. 

That aside, my mental health has been a bit of a rollercoaster as I've been dealing with a lot of changes very quickly in my personal life and gestures vaguely ya know, social media is wild af. Being home all the time with the exception of leaving for work and food has been extremely isolating. I miss playing in person games. Honestly, I miss playing online. I haven't had much of an opportunity to do either. In light of this, I'm looking to join some games for things other than Tide Breaker (I mean, if folks want to stream TB let me know. You absolutely have my blessing!) 

With all of that addressed, I'm still hopeful for the rest of this year. All of the "Tide Breaker Tier" backer surveys have been sent in and I'm commissioning the custom art for that soon. I'll be going over the entries and churning out characters to go along with the art as we go along. That's going to be super fun! When that's done that'll put us about 80% done with the art and that much closer to layout time. I'm hoping we'll get through these last couple hurdles soon as I'm feeling like a kid staying up late on Christmas Eve imagining what the stack of presents under the tree has in store. It's a lot, folk. 

 Oh, I think some shout outs are in order.

Have ya'll seen the ChapBook Co Op?

Check out the above link for the tweet containing the details, but it's a great initiative by my friends at  Monkey's Paw Games ,  Spear Witch ,  Chris B (aka. Pangalatic), and  Rattiincantati  to help game designers publish their ideas without relying on crowdfunding websites. This is important because well, Kickstarter for all of it's charm isn't actually available to many developers around the world, and that's completely ignoring the recent news that's making many of us choose to abandon this platform.

Co Ops help share a great deal of the burden involved in making games, and are a fantastic way to network within the game design community. Beyond that, they allow people important opportunities to practice their craft and build up a portfolio of work that will allow them to branch out in the industry in ways they may never have able to alone. Beyond Chap Book, folks like the Far Horizons Co Op have been doing great work by helping people get a start in making games. I can't stress how much I appreciate the work they are doing!

While you may have wonderful folks like  Sandy Pug Games (who coincidentally is also the head of their own Co Op) helping out those affected by a lack of availability to crowd funding sites like Kickstarter (in this instance those of the #RPGSEA community via their recent collaboration on Kickstarter,  Our Shores Kickstarter) by stepping in and hosting for international talent that may not have had the same opportunities as someone stateside like myself has had, we need other options to ensure everyone has a chance to spread the love of games to the world.

I believe that games are wonderful, and it is my personal belief that they are one of our strongest tools for bridging gaps in the world and providing much needed respite in troubling times. Being a game designer is my way of helping spread a little bit more joy into the universe and helping those in need. Sharing opportunities like the Chap Book Co Op only makes sense as it allows more game developers from different backgrounds to do the same. So please, check it out. 

Ok. That's all for now. Please support the homies and #KeepItHeroic, #ttrpg!

Merry Christmas!
over 2 years ago – Sun, Dec 26, 2021 at 05:42:49 AM

Hey, we got ya'll something!

 Tide Breaker: Quickstart Edition! 

We've been getting asked for this for a hot minute now, and I'm really happy to be able to reveal this today of all days! Francita and Draconick put it in so much work to get this ready for everyone on time and I don't know about ya'll, but I can't thank them enough. I'm super blessed to be working with such a great team and I'm just speaking for myself here, but I'm absolutely stoked to see what the full book looks like based on the work they've done here. When I tell you this is clean, I'm saying you could print this layout and perform surgery on it with full confidence. Ok, lemme stop. Suffice to say, I'm excited and proud of the work that was done by the team to produce this. 

So here it is, free for everyone, backer or passerby. Please feel free to share this with your friends and family and let me know what you think!