I am very proud of this advertisement that I produced for the Houses of the Blooded expansion over at Kickstarter
What do you think?
Spark RPG Ad
May 192011
Apr 012011
I have manged to cobble together a two-page long summary of my game thus far. While it’s only understandable to me, it is solid enough for me to run a demo game I think and took dramatically less time then a fully detailed revision of the text. I have some pressure to prepare the scenario for a local convention (CanGames) and I want that session to be as enjoyable as possible.
By the way, I am pondering a quick little mini-review series of some of the indie RPG’s which I have picked up from the various DriveThruRPG disaster relief bundles but I am uncertain if there would be much of an audience. Anyone have opinions one way or the other on this? Highlighting the novel technologies and interesting implementations within the design community seems helpful but I am honestly uncertain if anyone would read the things. Can you let me know?
Jan 072011
Spark RPG Cover
Sorry for the slow update cycle of late; over the holidays I have been out and about which has slowed my development somewhat. That said I will have another fruitful playtest next Tuesday which should test some new design innovations. If things work out as well as I hope, I will finally have a solid base mechanical system to encourage the kinds of gameplay I am seeking. I shall speak more if the playtest does go well.
The real reason for this post is to link to the cover art for Spark! Gabriel has done an excellent job in my opinion and I hope you agree.
I will hold off on doing the lettering and, well, the rest of the graphic design until I am dramatically further along in the design work.
Yeah, it’s premature to commission art but it also gave me a chance to solidify a standard artist contract template. Not to mention that Gabriel is remarkably good value for money. Check him out people!
Over the next 10 days I will be working on a Game Chef 2010 entry, where I am assembling a game focused on the aspects of “City”, “Desert” and “Edge”. I hope to produce a playable game and if I am successful, I will post it for free download for all and sundry.
You will be able to track my progress over at The Forge where I have a A Thread.
See you there!
Links
Aug 092010
I must declare my first GenCon an unbridled success. My pilgrimage to gamer Mecca was fulfilling in more ways then one. I was able to learn a great deal from seminars and workshops, play new games and spend far too much money in the dealer’s hall. Above and beyond that, I was able to meet most of the luminaries of game design.
Because of GenCon, I will be making a few changes to the Spark RPG. The first will be that the game will be designed to be understood by other people. I know how radical this may sound, but the experts claim this is important for some reason and I bow to their judgement. I am likely going to move away from my innovative insane print format for my game. I have been inspired with a new method of creating settings, which promises to be a ton of fun for all involved. Look for new great things in the future.
I also got an interview on Saturday afternoon on the NeonCon livestreaming coverage of GenCon. This led me to foolishly declare that I will be releasing Spark next GenCon. I will aspire to release the player content of the Spark RPG at that point and to run a series of games. I will try to prepare a limited number of print copies of the player’s content and the demo scenario and sell them during the con as the Unpolished Edition. If you have the unpolished edition, you will get the full print version at a discount.
Spoils of GenCon and Inspiration for Game Design
Awesome Game Designers I Met
I met a ton of excellent game designers who I need to give a shout out to. These include Jeff Tidball, Ryan Macklin (From the Internet), Brennan Taylor, Paul Tevis, David A Hill Jr., Filamena Young, Jeremy Keller and more. Go to their sites and buy their stuff people; you can clearly see that I have.
Recordings of a few seminars and an announcement will follow in subsequent posts.
Aug 092010
I attended a series of seminars at GenCon and I am posting them with the permission of the speakers. Feel free to link or copy any of the MP3′s.
1) Improvising: The GM’s Backup Plan by Patrick Benson
If you like his seminar, here are his haunts online.
- http://www.SinisterForces.com – My blog where I right about the Fudge RPG.
- http://www.YouMeetInATavern.com – A forum that I run for GMs.
- http://www.GnomeStew.com – The GM’s blog where I am a contributor on hiatus.
- http://www.EnginePublishing.com – The publisher of the new book from
the authors of Gnome Stew – Eureka, 501 Adventure Plots To Inspire
Game Masters.
2) Design an RPG in an Hour by Machine Age Productions where we designed an occult World War 2 game with a card-based resolution system. The write up will be released under creative commons at Machine Age Productions.
3) World Building in an Hour by Machine Age Productions where we built a world where attachment is suffering, the sunlight is a precious dwindling resource and the world is a dream they seek to escape. The write up will be released under creative commons at Machine Age Productions.
4) The Intersection of Games and Stories by Matt Forbeck, Stan !, Jeff Tidball. Excellent discussion on how stories may be told with Roleplaying games, board games, video games or in novel form.
5) Game Design is Mind Control by Luke Crane and Jared Sorensen and recorded over by the fine folks at The Walking Eye Podcast.
Aug 032010
I will be at GenCon this year and would love to meet and greet anyone possible. If you see a very pale blond gentleman with a black Genesis of Legend Publishing t-shirt, feel free to say hello! I will be attending a series of game design seminars, wandering around the marketplace and attending the Ennies award ceremony with the talented Jeff Tidball. I must admit this will be my first GenCon but it should be great fun.
If you met me at the convention and came to visit the site, welcome! I encourage you to leave a comment here so I can associate the faces with the internet persona. I would also love to hear what you would be interested in seeing here on the site. Your wish is my command…
See you at GenCon!
Jason Pitre, aka Jagash
Mar 302010
I would like to throw a question out to the crowd (which I expect shall materialize any moment now). What kind of content would be interesting and useful to all of you. There are two different kinds of content that I could offer.
Presently, I am thinking of providing game-focused content such as the state of the current development, new artwork and the Alternative Games series of posts.
Alternatively, I could instead focus on the broader theme of game development and explain my process of design from initial glimmer to final product.
What say yee, oh noble and silent readers? What would be interesting?
Just recently, I have participated in an auction for an incredibly good cause known as the Boom Effect. This consisted of a massive auction of creative works and professional services. I am pleased to announce that I was able to successfully win two of the auction bids.
We can look forward to a lovely audio promo for Spark, about a minute in length, which should be appearing in the coming months. The lovely and talented Kimi Alexandre will be providing this promo for your listening pleasure and I am grateful for her assistance.
Along with the promo, we will additionally be gaining an astounding custom-made original music theme written by James Durham, composer and Parsec-award-winning podcaster, whose music has played at venues like the National Cathedral in Washington, DC, to wide acclaim on the radio, in indie-film, video and dance productions. This will be used for an upcoming podcast, tentatively being given the title of “Digital Fireside Stories”. Think of a better title? Leave a comment and let me know!
I am additionally proud to say that I have been able to offer my personal scientific expertise to the lovely Paulette Jaxton. She donated an impressive total toward Sonic Boom’s trust fund and I am pleased to help her out with future creative efforts.
Links:
Jan 212010
Normally I try not to attempt to convince people to make a purchase, but this cause is incredibly worthwhile and of enormous value. While I did not have a game prepared to donate to the cause, I have donated a bit of additional money for MSF and now own $1080 worth of PDF’s.
This is an astounding opportunity both to help suffering people and collect a wide variety of interesting RPG’s. I strongly recommend it if you financial situation permits.
Gamers Helping Haiti $20 Donation with Coupon
Gamers, Let’s band together and see how much we can raise to help the people of Haiti.
Donate $20 and get a coupon for over a thousand dollars in RPG titles. After you make the donation, you will receive the coupon code in your email. It will also be available in your order history.
A listing of the free products available with this coupon can be found on our Gamers Help Haiti page .
Add any of the products to your cart, and use the coupon on checkout. Any products that are part of the Haiti relief package will be discounted to $0.00.
Unfortunately the overwhelming generosity of the gaming community is hampering our ability to deliver the orders purchased with the bundle coupon to you. Your products will be safe in your order history, so if you could wait a day or two before downloading them, it would be much appreciated. Please contact us if you have any questions.If each of us gave just $20, think of what kind of an impact we could make.
Funds raised will go to Doctors Without Borders Haiti Earthquake Response. Please see our homepage to watch our donation total as it rises in support of the Haitian people and their community.
Help us spread the word on Facebook and Twitter! If you have a Twitter or Facebook account, post the following: Gamers Help Haiti! Join with other gamers & donate now: http://www.drivethrurpg.com/product_info.php?products_id=78023&it=1
For more information about the earthquake and Doctors Without Borders, visit:
http://www.doctorswithoutborders.org
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