Thanksgiving is a chance for us to thank all of the people out there who support us and love this game.
As we move through this next year together we do know it will be difficult to adapt, to change and even see clearly what we are doing, but we do want all of you to come with us on the journey to tomorrow.
Because Sue and I can not present a final product all at one time we will have to do it over the course of the next year, unveiling it slowly, asking for your input, and recreating a game with the original simplicity of DS, yet keeping the spirit of the game we all love.
This is not going to be an easy task, but we believe, with your support, we can make the game we will all be playing for the next 15 years.
Mark
-- Post From My iPad
Thursday, November 25, 2010
Monday, November 15, 2010
Always between Conventions it seems.
We are preparing Sue for Midwest Furfest. Tonya will be our DS front person at the Con. She will have print outs of new materials, Guild Applications, Character sheets and more with her at the con. I even gave a spirit messenger if she needs Guidance from within the Secret Clanhold. Sue will be doing her best to keep up with the Art end of the convention. We really appreciate Tonya's help at this one!
The newest Familiar Place Web Comic has been posted. If you need your Monday Familiar Place Fix, it is here.
I have posted the new Channel Set for Pre-ordering on our market page. There is a link there to the PDF as well. This fine link leads to the pre-order page. Go look, download the PDF, check it out.
Channel and the Great Change.
In the PDF's we are doing on the new cards we do not discuss the cards that are not in the set. It would be confusing to do so in the Set descriptions. What I will be doing is to discuss those cards briefly here in the blog, just to keep you informed.
Fortunatley for all of us DS comes with the handy 3.4 GM rule to deal with blending the old and the new.
Channel Link is being by passed in the new Channel Cards. There are a number of new concepts that we want to explore with you, like the Shroud, that do not work well with an Anchor. We also wanted to open Channel up to the general Stormlands civilians. Elethay Acolyte cast members can be shown in ways that illustrate their community value without the GM having to contrive to get them a Boon. The Channel Link, with it's +1 WIS still has value, but some may want to free up a Boon slot by switching to the new Channel card.
Channel Strike has also been by passed. We have not had good opportunities to test it with the new cards, so we just left it as is.
The point values of the Channel cards has been tweaked. It is very difficult to figure out a good CP value for cards when they should be carried, but may be useless in some adventures. A hard numerical value system does not take that into account. *sigh*
Sometimes it can be difficult to see what we are working at here, be patient, all will be exposed over time.
Well, that is it for today.
Good Night and Good Gaming.
-- Post From My iPad
The newest Familiar Place Web Comic has been posted. If you need your Monday Familiar Place Fix, it is here.
I have posted the new Channel Set for Pre-ordering on our market page. There is a link there to the PDF as well. This fine link leads to the pre-order page. Go look, download the PDF, check it out.
Channel and the Great Change.
In the PDF's we are doing on the new cards we do not discuss the cards that are not in the set. It would be confusing to do so in the Set descriptions. What I will be doing is to discuss those cards briefly here in the blog, just to keep you informed.
Fortunatley for all of us DS comes with the handy 3.4 GM rule to deal with blending the old and the new.
Channel Link is being by passed in the new Channel Cards. There are a number of new concepts that we want to explore with you, like the Shroud, that do not work well with an Anchor. We also wanted to open Channel up to the general Stormlands civilians. Elethay Acolyte cast members can be shown in ways that illustrate their community value without the GM having to contrive to get them a Boon. The Channel Link, with it's +1 WIS still has value, but some may want to free up a Boon slot by switching to the new Channel card.
Channel Strike has also been by passed. We have not had good opportunities to test it with the new cards, so we just left it as is.
The point values of the Channel cards has been tweaked. It is very difficult to figure out a good CP value for cards when they should be carried, but may be useless in some adventures. A hard numerical value system does not take that into account. *sigh*
Sometimes it can be difficult to see what we are working at here, be patient, all will be exposed over time.
Well, that is it for today.
Good Night and Good Gaming.
-- Post From My iPad
Saturday, November 13, 2010
The Great Change Forms Updated
The new upgraded forms are coming along. Scroll down on the content page to see the current Beta Forms. Download them, proxy them, try them out.
As the game has expanded over the past 14 years the original forms we created for the game have lost power in comparison to the combat skills and equipment of mortals. These upgrades will bring the original forms back to where they were when the game first came out. If our crystal ball had not been out for repairs, we would have made them stronger in the first place.
Since we now have a way to price cards more reasonably we are also taking the this opportunity to make the forms availability fit our original vision of their distribution. Avatars for everyone! Plus a larger variety of forms for most of the shifter races.
Many of the small forms are now IND forms while larger forms still require an Action to activate.
You should also note the terminology change on the cards. We are now using "activate" for abilities. It will help people recognize when abilities (activate), spells (cast), and skills (use) are being played.
We are also working at adding relevant skill bonuses to the different forms and adding attributes that will distinguish the different races. These bonuses are still a work in progress. You will need to read the cards carefully to find the new additions. Whatever causes the most questions we will be able to cover in the different Shifter sets as the cards are prepared for publishing. If we do not cover your questions when we publish, no one asked them for you.
Now that we have a basic series of Forms we can work on specialty cards. This will give us the resources to say card X is meant to work with the following forms. We can also do standard, greater and prime abilities this way. All of the races will be getting special abilities along the lines of the new beta dragon fire breath cards.
The older forms will still work as written, however, they will be out powered by the newer forms. The old forms will be obsolete, but still function. It will cause confusion when an old form that no longer exists is used in games, but I am sure that our GM's can use Rule 3.4 to deal with that. This is going to be especially true with the old Prime Avatar cards. The new Avatar's are all considered Greater Forms. This allows us to create special Abilities for the Prime Forms and balance them. To keep the balance we recommend that all Avatars be considered "greater" for card use, but that will be up to your GM, not us. She knows best.
We are trying hard to both update the game and protect your cards. While we know that many people do not appreciate that effort, we are doing it anyway.
-- Post From My iPad
As the game has expanded over the past 14 years the original forms we created for the game have lost power in comparison to the combat skills and equipment of mortals. These upgrades will bring the original forms back to where they were when the game first came out. If our crystal ball had not been out for repairs, we would have made them stronger in the first place.
Since we now have a way to price cards more reasonably we are also taking the this opportunity to make the forms availability fit our original vision of their distribution. Avatars for everyone! Plus a larger variety of forms for most of the shifter races.
Many of the small forms are now IND forms while larger forms still require an Action to activate.
You should also note the terminology change on the cards. We are now using "activate" for abilities. It will help people recognize when abilities (activate), spells (cast), and skills (use) are being played.
We are also working at adding relevant skill bonuses to the different forms and adding attributes that will distinguish the different races. These bonuses are still a work in progress. You will need to read the cards carefully to find the new additions. Whatever causes the most questions we will be able to cover in the different Shifter sets as the cards are prepared for publishing. If we do not cover your questions when we publish, no one asked them for you.
Now that we have a basic series of Forms we can work on specialty cards. This will give us the resources to say card X is meant to work with the following forms. We can also do standard, greater and prime abilities this way. All of the races will be getting special abilities along the lines of the new beta dragon fire breath cards.
The older forms will still work as written, however, they will be out powered by the newer forms. The old forms will be obsolete, but still function. It will cause confusion when an old form that no longer exists is used in games, but I am sure that our GM's can use Rule 3.4 to deal with that. This is going to be especially true with the old Prime Avatar cards. The new Avatar's are all considered Greater Forms. This allows us to create special Abilities for the Prime Forms and balance them. To keep the balance we recommend that all Avatars be considered "greater" for card use, but that will be up to your GM, not us. She knows best.
We are trying hard to both update the game and protect your cards. While we know that many people do not appreciate that effort, we are doing it anyway.
-- Post From My iPad
Thursday, November 11, 2010
The GM and Battle Sight
I had a couple of comments from my Pentacon players that they liked how I ran Battle Sight in my games. I thought it would be a good idea to talk about how I do it.
When people are playing I give no more information during a combat than I feel they would naturally get during the chaos of combat.
Initiative rolls: At the start of each round I ask for the initiatives of the players. The characters would have a good idea of which of them is going when, especially if they have an active Link. I do not mention when their opponents will be going. I change that in a subtle way when Battle Sight is operational. If the initiative of my cast is 8, After Battle Sight is active I ask who has an initiative greater than 8. That change in my question gives the characters an idea of when the cast will be going. That change is directly related to Battle Sight.
Combat Damage: When characters strike cast members I simply tell them that they did damage, or not, to the target. When they ask for more detailed information I ask them if they have Battle Sight up. If they say no, then I say they can't tell and move on. When someone does have Battle Sight up I change what I tell the characters. Now I start saying things like "she looks badly hurt" or "he does not seem to be hurt bad". Sometimes I may add phrases like "it looks like it is on it's last legs". These changes in my game descriptions come directly from an Active Battle Sight.
GM's in Dragon Storm are more creative than in most RPG games, and we expect a lot more from them. We also expect more from our players and I was gratified when three of them noticed the change in information when Battle Sight became active.
I rarely turn to a dice roll for Battle Sight. I only make players perform a contest roll if they are asking for very detailed information. This is especially true if their opponent is also running Battle Sight. One observation they may well get from a detailed look is that their opponent is also running Battle Sight and is reacting intelligently to them. They could also realize that their opponents are running a Link for communications. What other types of information would be available to characters through Battle Sight is up to the players. They need to compose specific, relevant questions to ask. The GM just decides if the information they want is available.
GM'ing and playing an RPG like Dragon Storm is an art form rather than a set of firm rules. It can be difficult to be flexible, but it should be our goal.
If players do not have Battle Sight active I allow them to use an Action and make a Perception contest roll. This gets them one piece of focused information. Players need to ask a specific question to get specific answers. If they ask a muddled question that confuses the GM, then they get back a muddled answer. I really do try to make the players be creative. It forces me to do the same.
Good Day and Good Gaming!
-- Post From My iPad
When people are playing I give no more information during a combat than I feel they would naturally get during the chaos of combat.
Initiative rolls: At the start of each round I ask for the initiatives of the players. The characters would have a good idea of which of them is going when, especially if they have an active Link. I do not mention when their opponents will be going. I change that in a subtle way when Battle Sight is operational. If the initiative of my cast is 8, After Battle Sight is active I ask who has an initiative greater than 8. That change in my question gives the characters an idea of when the cast will be going. That change is directly related to Battle Sight.
Combat Damage: When characters strike cast members I simply tell them that they did damage, or not, to the target. When they ask for more detailed information I ask them if they have Battle Sight up. If they say no, then I say they can't tell and move on. When someone does have Battle Sight up I change what I tell the characters. Now I start saying things like "she looks badly hurt" or "he does not seem to be hurt bad". Sometimes I may add phrases like "it looks like it is on it's last legs". These changes in my game descriptions come directly from an Active Battle Sight.
GM's in Dragon Storm are more creative than in most RPG games, and we expect a lot more from them. We also expect more from our players and I was gratified when three of them noticed the change in information when Battle Sight became active.
I rarely turn to a dice roll for Battle Sight. I only make players perform a contest roll if they are asking for very detailed information. This is especially true if their opponent is also running Battle Sight. One observation they may well get from a detailed look is that their opponent is also running Battle Sight and is reacting intelligently to them. They could also realize that their opponents are running a Link for communications. What other types of information would be available to characters through Battle Sight is up to the players. They need to compose specific, relevant questions to ask. The GM just decides if the information they want is available.
GM'ing and playing an RPG like Dragon Storm is an art form rather than a set of firm rules. It can be difficult to be flexible, but it should be our goal.
If players do not have Battle Sight active I allow them to use an Action and make a Perception contest roll. This gets them one piece of focused information. Players need to ask a specific question to get specific answers. If they ask a muddled question that confuses the GM, then they get back a muddled answer. I really do try to make the players be creative. It forces me to do the same.
Good Day and Good Gaming!
-- Post From My iPad
Wednesday, November 10, 2010
Just trying to get some more sleep
I am moving slowly this week. The last few weeks have been hectic and I am breathing in some fresh air.
I did get the link for the Great Change Forms fixed on the DS content page.
Weekly Familiar Place Comic is up.
Orders shipped today. Got caught up.
New Guild Memberships from the past two weeks will be done this weekend and be mailed Monday. I have 14 to do, three from Pentacon.
People are sending version 1.1 card ideas, those will get posted to the beta page in the next couple of days.
Pre-orders for set 34 have started coming in. Thanks!
I will get more up as soon as time permits. Having to do write-ups with background materials will slow things down, but give a better idea of what we were thinking.
Good Night and Good Gaming!
-- Post From My iPad
I did get the link for the Great Change Forms fixed on the DS content page.
Weekly Familiar Place Comic is up.
Orders shipped today. Got caught up.
New Guild Memberships from the past two weeks will be done this weekend and be mailed Monday. I have 14 to do, three from Pentacon.
People are sending version 1.1 card ideas, those will get posted to the beta page in the next couple of days.
Pre-orders for set 34 have started coming in. Thanks!
I will get more up as soon as time permits. Having to do write-ups with background materials will slow things down, but give a better idea of what we were thinking.
Good Night and Good Gaming!
-- Post From My iPad
Thursday, November 4, 2010
Dragon Storm goes to Pentacon
We will be in Fort Wayne on Friday morning. Looking forward to it!
New Beta PDF section on the content page. Scroll down and have a look. Valarian and Bloodkin and more.
Running behind, as usual. See you at the Con!
-- Post From My iPad
New Beta PDF section on the content page. Scroll down and have a look. Valarian and Bloodkin and more.
Running behind, as usual. See you at the Con!
-- Post From My iPad
Monday, November 1, 2010
Monday and DS, they go together.
I have switched gears here today. Getting set for tomorrows game and I waited some equipment sets to give cast members. I put together a set of them and put them up in the beta downloads. Give them a try, see what you think.
The weekly Familiar Place web comic is up. Number 11 and counting. You can drop in here and see it.
Waiting for Sue to get back from FurFright. Fighting with the leaves. Thinking about Pentacon. Now I think I am hungry. Time for breakfast already? Oh, wait, it is dinner time.. I think I know why my stomach is growling.
-- Post From My iPad
The weekly Familiar Place web comic is up. Number 11 and counting. You can drop in here and see it.
Waiting for Sue to get back from FurFright. Fighting with the leaves. Thinking about Pentacon. Now I think I am hungry. Time for breakfast already? Oh, wait, it is dinner time.. I think I know why my stomach is growling.
-- Post From My iPad
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