My last post was over six weeks ago and I ended off with a note that I still had a bunch of stuff to get done before the end of the year. Somehow, I still have a lot of THOSE things left to do but things have actually been moving forward once more. So, what have I been up to in my hours outside of my regular 9-5 gig?
I'm excited to say that I've been helping John Adams at Brave Halfling Publishing with what some people view as a disastrous Kickstarter. This is a real shame. He's no thief or conman as some of his detractors would have you believe. He's a good guy who had all the right intentions but, as the saying goes, the roads are paved with them. I count John as a good friend but many problems turned a very positive campaign experience into a sour one for many backers. He's made mistakes and the biggest ones were underestimating the work load required to get this done while mainly doing it alone. As a backer myself, I haven't seen much beyond the first set of releases (I write about the HERE) but, once I had them in hand, I was pleased at the final quality of the product. As for the help I have been providing, it's mainly editing and layout work. A few weeks ago, I was provided with an Appendix N scenario by Michael Curtis which I understand is destined to get into the hands of backers which has been turned in at the start of the month. I am working on another longer Appendix N scenario but can't really go into the details for that. It is my understanding that it's the last one that needs editing and layout work done though and I hope with this one out of the way, whatever is missing or outstanding all gets consolidated and settled once and for all. The last time we spoke, he also mentioned something about the boxes and I think this will also please backers once everything that needs to go out, goes out.
That said, I've really enjoyed doing the little bit of layout and editing work for the DCC material that Brave Halfling has put together. If anything can be learned from this experience, doing all this stuff alone was a mistake. It's a mistake that John has made a few times and one I've made myself in trying to get stuff out. This is why we have committed to help each other out a lot more in the immediate future.
As far as my painting projects are concerned -- I have been working on and off on a pain-in-the-ass commission to do a custom paint job on Primus Cybertron.
I hate it and frankly it kills a lot of my motivation to paint. I'm doing it as a favor and basically, the money I'm getting for the project pays for materials and nothing more. I have already spent countless of hours in previous months working on this cursed thing. I needed a huge break and so, I'm happily painting again. I've started a project which will end up being a X-Mas present to my niece. It's a Unicorn and Ranger diorama that I'm making on a 40mm base. I'll be doing a painting guide for it in the coming days (only 10 days till Christmas after all!).
And finally, I've gotten my latest / newest Castles & Crusades printings of the Players Handbook and Monsters & Treasure book. They do look quite nice in their leatherette covers and look even better when you start flipping through the pages. There will be another attempt to get a game going though, it might also be Call of Cthulhu that might be explored in 2015. The idea was presented for me to run another small fantasy campaign but before I could get too excited, I learned that the players in question wanted to give 5th Edition a try. Not the the kind of thing I was hoping for with the new C&C books in hand.
All fine games though -- each with respective strengths and weaknesses. Well, that's it for tonight. I will leave by mentioning two kickstarters that deserve a mention with a proven track record for delivery,
The first is another Kickstarter by Troll Lord Games for their campaign setting. It has already smashed the basic funding goals and with three weeks to go, plenty of time to get more goals met including a the color ones. It's a solid setting that I grew to love since I first came across it. The main book (Codex), is also stat-less and a great consideration if C&C just isn't your cup of tea.
You can check it out HERE.
The other Kickstarter of note is the second issue of Heroic by Zenith Comics. The first one was published and has made it into the hands of backers. It's a great superhero story and even pledging a $1 will get you a digital copy of issue 1. If you like it, you can upgrade your pledge to get issue 2 ... or even a physical copy of the first issue to accompany the second issue. If signed copies are your thing, that too can be done. It's a great comic and the initial story is to be spread out in a six-issue story arc. Having funded and successfully delivered issue 1, the process for the second issue is well-in-hand and much less of a risk for those of us who got burned on other Kickstarter projects.
If this looks interesting, you best hurry, as there are 6 days left and $2400 is still needed for this to fund. You can check it out HERE.
M
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