Thursday, February 4, 2010

Waiting on Art!

Okay, that image to the left gives me way too much joy. I'm putting it up here because not only is it very awesome, it sorta thematically ties to my upcoming project.

So I've finished up the script for my Neverborn Sourcebook, which is going to be the best damn race-splat in gaming history. I've got Amanda working on the art for it, and can't wait to start laying it out.

In a more mainstream vein, Psi-Watch is proceeding very swiftly. I've finished revising the original manuscript, including the Power Armor creation system (let me tell you that was a pain in the ass, but I do it out of love for you, my readers). The manuscript is humming along nicely- even with some filler material taken out (the teamwork feats which were mostly just a reprint from an earlier sourcebook) the new manuscript is about 10,000 words longer than the original draft of Psi-Watch.

I have taken out a few things. The Gravity Cat race got pulled from Psi-Watch, because they migrated to Galaxy Command, where they're a better fit. Instead of the more generic cat-aliens I've done some stuff with the new Mutant race that is a better thematic fit for feral killer muties as they appear in comics like X-Force and Youngblood. I've also pulled the Light Reconstruction Cyborg race because I did everything I needed to with them in State of the Otherverse: Cybernetics Armory. I feel like I pushed that concept as far as I could go, with cyborg feats, starting occupations, a real sense of history and lots of new gadgets. Basically I did more with the LR Cyborg race in a standalone product than I would be able to with a more limited page count as part of a larger work.

In terms of what I've added.... I've added a few new races, and before it's all said and done I'll probably one or two more. Right now, I believe I'm at 15 player races, plus humans. I would love to get it to 17 and 20 is a nice round number, right?

I originally intented to include a monster manual in the Psi-Watch Core Book, but as I progress further I've started thinking about making the "MM" a standalone product. I think it will sell very well, and I don't have to worry so much about making a brick of a sourcebook this way. I have a feeling that Psi-Watch will top 250 pages as is, and might balloon quickly to the size of Otherverse America as I keep tweaking it.

One reason for my writing of big sourcebooks is that I personally LOVE big sourcebooks. I know asking 15 -20 bucks for a PDF is a fairly big entertainment expense, so I feel guilty if I don't put out value for dollars. Also, I'm just a wordy bastard. I usually keep noodling around a concept until I feel I've explored it as far as I can go, and that usually results in big, rambling word counts.

Anyway, I've also got some fantasy stuff coming out, and I've got some great news art wise. It looks like Amanda Webb will be publishing some stock art of her own, under the name MandaPandaStocks! If you've liked her stuff in my releases, be sure to pick up the packs when the release, and say some good things about her on RPG.net okay?

Talk to you later. I'll probably post the table of contents for Psi-Watch in a few days, give you an idea of the changes I've made. Take it as tentative though, because something tells me I'm not quite done with the manuscript yet.

Blessed Be,
CHRIS

1 comment:

Alzrius said...

Good to hear things are coming along so well. But come on man, where's Black Tokyo II?