At GenCon this year, I had a chance to meet John S. R. Schutt. He’s a nice guy and an aspiring freelancer.
I got an email from him, telling me about his first gig for WereDragon Magazine. Called Into the Puppets Heart: The Otanshu Legacy, it’s got evil puppets, artifacts and creatures of the beyond. Sounds tasty, so I’m going to check it out.
Anyway, congratulate Mr. Schutt and, if you have the time, check out his work. I’m sure he’d love some reviews.
My first gig involving the new 4e rules. Here’s the copy:
Death stalks the Isles!
All through the Known World, the stories are told again and again, by pirate captains and boasting merchant lords: a ferocious sea monster is stalking the trade lanes, and no vessel is safe. The call goes out for a band of heroes willing to dare the impossible: to slay a leviathan of the murky deeps.
Are you and your companions the heroes that can bring back the head of the sea dragon? Or will you perish like those before you, adrift on the unforgiving sea? An adventure of exploration, courage and cunning, Isle of the Sea Drake will challenge characters with savage natives, the walking dead, gold-crazed pirates, a sea dragon, and an ancient mystery from beyond the stars.
When heroes dare the sea dragon, only the most courageous will survive!
Isle of the Sea Drake includes a full-color double-sided poster map depicting the area of the adventure. This world-neutral adventure can be used alone or to launch a campaign in the epic fantasy world of Áereth.
It just went up at RPG Now. Grab a Copy!
I have been searching for a good programmer to work on certain projects with for the better part of the last six months. I’ve gone through four. All came highly recommended or seemed like good candidates based on their resumes. They all listened to what I expected of them and said they were willing to accept the jobs. They all responded that they understood when I explained that I needed a firm commitment – that if there was any reason they thought they could not complete the assignment on schedule I would rather them back off before we started. All four have screwed me – causing me to miss various deadlines.
I never thought that programmers could be prima donnas. I was wrong.
You people are costing me time, money and credibility. If you say you’re going to do something… DO IT!
Don’t give me excuses right before a deadline. I don’t want to hear them. I can’t publish an excuse. I can’t send it into a client. And I certainly can’t show it off to a potential business partner. Put up, or shut up.
Don’t tell me your computer went down. I’ve had computer issues a handful of times. I’ve had them during crunch time before deadlines. I’ve always gone out of my way to make sure I remedied the situation. In the US, if my connection goes down I go to Starbucks. Yes, it costs me money to get online, but it’s more important to do what I say I’ll do and swallow the internet fee. I’m not IN the US – I’m in Bulgaria. You know what happened when a publisher and I were having issues and my internet wasn’t cooperating? I drove two hours to another town to use the internet there. It wasn’t working there, either? I drove two more hours back in hopes that the old connection was back up. Why? Because it’s my professional duty to make sure I do everything in my power to get my work in on time, and to spec.
The biggest one: communication. Answer your email or I’m going to kill you if we ever meet in person. Tell me you’re having issues. Heck, lie to me for all I care. Don’t you dare keep ignoring me – not when you’re past a deadline and only 20% of the way to the finished product. I started working online while in a war zone and I did fine. If I can answer emails between dodging mortars and convoys, etc… Well, then you can keep in touch with a guy that wants to send you thousands of dollars.
Give me one, just one, adult and I’ll show you someone who is worth their weight in gold.
The rest of you suck.
I’m always looking for new places to submit my work. Some markets pay better than others – and the most lucrative is not always your first choice. Hence, today’s examples:
The Artist’s Magazine is looking for informative articles about techniques from the artist’s viewpoint, using the language of art. Features need to emphasize the creative process: how the artist works with a medium, solves problems and conducts business…
Did I mention TAM pays $300-$1000 for features of 500-1200 words?
And then there’s Dramatics magazine, which is looking for practical articles on all aspects of acting, directing, design, and stagecraft; profiles of working professionals in various theatre jobs that illuminate what it’s like to pursue a career in the theatre…
DM is happy to part with $100-$500 for 800-4000 words.
Not too shabby…
Heroic Toolkits: Vehicles was just released. That’s three books from Ed, Inc in one week!
“Vehicles make exciting props for a True20 story. They create instant images in the minds of players and represent mobility, travel, passion, conflict, intrigue and virtually any other emotion or concept that the Narrator wishes. When the Narrator describes the villain arriving in a pearl white Aston Martin or escaping in a sputtering Sopwith Camel World War I biplane, a scene is set in the minds of the players! Vehicles help set the scene and help create an image.
The True20 rules provide basic statistics for a few common types of vehicles. This supplement provides the Narrator with more. More vehicles, more options, more feats and more suggestions on gameplay. Spice up your True20 story with True20 vehicles—up in space, below the waves, on the freeways or the muddy dirt track roads of some medieval kingdom. More action and excitement awaits!
The statistics in this book are based on the latest available True20 errata, which greatly modified the statistics of vehicles originally printed in the True20.”
This Product provides Players and narrators with an abundance of vehicles and vehicle weapons from a number of popular roleplaying game genres including Fantasy, modern, near future and far-flung sci-fi and space settings.
You can grab your copy at these fine e-retailers: One Bookshelf, Your Games Now and RPGObjects
It should be noted, that when buying the PDF from RPG Objects, you will receive a special discount on the print version when it becomes available. Those who purchase the PDF from another seller need only provide proof of purchase to RPG Objects to qualify for the same discount.
Another product from Ed, Inc… This is the second product I’ve worked on for RDP’s Blood Throne setting. Enjoy!
Let them know obedience. Let them know desolation. But, most of all, let them know pain…
Salena Valanas, instructing the Shapers Guild
Written by Hal Maclean and Mathew Kaiser, the Blighted Bestiary presents a host of new monsters and minions designed to help the blight elves carry out their crusade of visiting misery to every corner of the world. Though designed as a companion volume to Blight Elves: Architects of Despair, a Narrator could easily adapt the creatures, templates and even stat blocks of different creatures found within this book to fit other situations. Every world needs villains, the more dastardly the better, and the blight elves, devoted servants to the goddess of suicide, bring an entirely new dimension to villainy.
Seeking not territorial aggrandizement or personal glory, but rather to make every living creature prefer death to life, the blight elves apply every facet of their pitiless lore to manufacturing servant creatures. Twisting flesh and bone to suit their purposes, they delight in the certainty that most of their vassals suffer with constant torment, both physical and psychological. Only the safeguards bred into them by their masters keeps these wretched creatures from taking revenge for the misery of their existence.
Below are but a few of the blighted horrors you will find in this product:
The Blighted Bestiary works well as both a supplement for the Blood Throne Campaign Setting or as a stand alone creature supplement for use in your own campaign!
Grab your copy today at these fine E-retailers:
At GenCon last year, Rick Miller (
The best thing to come out of this article is the look and feel of the plague doctors – modeled shamelessly after the outfits worn by the doctors who served during the days of the Black Death. Those wacky “bird” masks just screamed Pazuzu to me.
Product Link: Paizo Store
Please let me know what you think about the article. Better yet, if you like it, please post your props on the Paizo Boards. Do both!
The WritersWeekly.com Spring 2008 24-Hour Short Story Contest is now open for entrants. Each contest is limited to 500 entrants. Contests usually fill up, so don’t delay if you want to participate. The contest is tons of fun! You can see the list of 85 prizes (first prize is $300, second is $250 and third is $200 – plus 82 other prizes!), and sign up here:
I missed my first deadline today. It was the deadline for a rough draft, not the final, but still…
I called my editor and told him I wasn’t going to be able to send my work on time, and he was gracious enough to grant me a couple extra days, but I still feel like crap. It’s the first time I’ve ever missed a deadline.
I feel dirty.
Every writer gets writer’s block. It can be very annoying, so I’m glad I don’t get it that often.
I’ve got a different problem right now. I’ve got “writer’s flood.” I’ve got so many ideas bouncing around in my brain right now I’m having trouble grabbing one, wrestling it to the ground, and forcing it into a finished form I can be proud of. Instead, I find myself thinking about Project A, while working on Project B–only to find my mind wandering back to Project A when I’ve put it down to do something else. Argh!
Project A: Due in three weeks. 1/2 done.
Project B: Due in six weeks. 1/4 done.
Project C: Due in eight weeks. 1/4 done.
… and on and on and on.
I wish I could put each project in its own little room inside my brain, lock all the doors save one, and march down the line, completing each of them in turn. Instead, I feel like I’m in a looney bin.