Sorcery & Super Science!

Suzi got a virus on her computer today. A brand new one. So new Google didn't recognize the .exe file. After much wrangling, dusting off my DOS and regediting skills, I think I got rid of the bastard. But, I won't know for sure until the 'puters been up and running online for several hours. In a day or two I expect all the antivirus softwares to catch up and I'll run system scans daily until then.

Just finished the last NPC. Freeport's now done.  It'll sit for about a week and then we'll start the first pass editing.

It's been a busy week at XRP! We've 3 new books for 3 different game systems that are up for sale at our website: One on One Adventures Compendium (Pathfinder), Castoffs and Crossbreeds (4e), and Advanced Adventures #11: The Conqueror Worm (1e).

We're doing a sale on our hardcopy stuff at our Website !

From now until November 1, you can pick up our 4e and True 20 products for 50% off, plus $5 off our Magical Society titles and $3 off our 1 on 1 Adventures and Advanced Adventure titles. Also, you can get $8 off the hardcover version of Malevolent & Benign, our 1e monster book at lulu. Which is $6 off in softcover form at our website.

We usually only run 1 sale a year, so this is probably your only chance to buy at a discount.

Been a while since the last post, so I thought a quick update was due. We continue working on Freeport 4e, Nevermore 4e, 1on1 Adventure #12 for Pathfinder, getting art for the next 3 Advanced Adventures, and we've started the closed Beta of Sorcery & Super Science.

And I'm eating flowers. :) Our CSA has included some nasturtium in our salad mix and they're tasty. Kinda like a sweet, yet peppery, radish.

We and the guys from Goblinoid Games, Brave Halfing, and Lamantations of the Flame Princess have put together an Old-School Sampler containing The People of the Pit (Brave Halfling Publishing), Idol of the Orcs (Goblinoid Games), Death Frost Doom (Lamentations of the Flame Princess), and Advanced Adventures #10: The Lost Keys of Solitude (Expeditious Retreat Press).

I think it's pretty cool that we're all willing to work together.

All Games Considered interviewed Suzi at GenCon and the interview is now up. Her part begins around 17:06 or so.

V3's laid-out and ready to go. I've got to convert the sample character and create a few more small things before it's ready to see the light of day. Hopefully that won't take more than a day or two between all the other things we're doing. Basically, we're to the point where the rules are ready to be tested. I've just a bunch of world-building and MOAR! (of everything) to add.

Just finished V3 of S&SS. Additions include highlights (background quirks with bennies), vehicles, and a new whisper track.

More importantly, I've consolidated the formatting of various things, conveying more information in less space. I've added about 4k more works to V3 than V2, but I'm only using 2 more pages (in Word). I like things to be concise.

Now, to produce a new playtest document for V3, along with updating the sample characters, and then e-mails to those already involved in the process. We're nearing the Beta. Only a few more thing I want to check off the list before opening up the doors to a wider playtest group.

Just started version 3 of S&SS today. I'm aiming towards a manuscript that is less jotted notes for myself and the few brave others who have read them and more of one approaching publishable clarity. In particular, I've cleaned up the section explaining the core mechanic (the floating die system) and I think it is much better than before.

The prior maps are owned by the ZZZ Society. Every Post-Apocalyptic world needs travel guidebooks!

S&SS is now cross-posted at http://josephbrowning.blogspot.com

I've been working on the map and as the digital pen is put to digital paper, the stories become to come. I've always loved making maps and have found that they are truly inspirational.

The Midwestern Badlands have expanded into Ohio and are now joined with the East Coast Badlands, the Gulf Coast Badlands, and the Great Northern Wastes, where the Cree have returned out of time - their Totem Shamans (mutated animals) breaking all known rules through their use of sorcery, once thought only the purview of pure humans. They remember their mistreatment and are now a fierce warrior tribe, wary of outsiders. The confederated states of Ohio (whose leading member is the Grand Duchy of Coshocton, of course) are civilizing factors while the warring states of Qubec fight within and without. The Holy States of California have established a solid grip upon the continent with their Crusader States and The Lucky Duchy is one of the few "civilized" sections in what was once the Southwest US. The Southern Florida Death Cult has recently taken a few of the Bahama islands and their plans to expand southward seem unlikely to fail.

More to come of course, but things are shaping up nicely, IMO.

Updated the map with a new water color (think it pops better) and added in the first of probably hundreds of political organizations. The featured one (orange-in the center) is the Midwestern Badlands. This area doesn't even have a nominal leader or head of state. Most of the other states vary from decent to very loose control. For those interested, the Vulture Men of Waukegan "control" the red area along the cost of Lake Michigan. Also note, California must have had the big one at some time, 'cause it's an island now. :)

Time's a bit out of wack in Sorcery & Super Science! The return of the Western Interior Seaway means, of course, the return of Cretaceous flora and fauna as well...

Here's the good 'ole USA in SSS. I'll be updating the map as I go along.

We've been out of town for around the past 11 days and our neighbors picked some veggies in exchange for watering (thanks!), but below is the updated accounting of our garden for this year. I'm pleased we've gone over my optimistic goal of $150 and think we may just reach $200 by the end of the year. Counting the weight produced, we've harvested roughly 250 lbs. of food so far. :)

Radishes: 12 oz ($.71) ($0.0625 per oz)
Kale, Green: 19 lbs 4 oz lbs. ($30.8) ($0.1 per oz)
Kale, Red: 18 lbs 8 oz. ($29.60) ($0.1 per oz)
Lettuce (mix): 9 lbs, 10 oz. ($15.4) ($0.1 per oz)
Sweet Peas: 2lbs. 8oz. ($9.02) ($.22 per oz)
Dwarf Peas: 1lbs. 11 oz.; ($3.51) ($0.13 per oz)
Wando Peas: 2lbs, 14 oz ($5.98) ($0.13 per oz)
Oregano: little bit, it's a herb. :) (nada)
Basil: disappointing little bit (nada)
Spinach: 1lbs. 4 oz ($2.60) ($0.13 per oz)
Swiss Chard: 13 lbs. 12 oz ($21.8) ($0.1 per oz)
Blueberries: .4 oz (unknown)
Kohlrabi greens and bulbs: 1 lbs. 15 oz. ($4.65) ($0.15 oz)
Cucumbers: 33 lbs. 2oz. ($33.12) ($0.0625 per oz.)
Green Beans: 35lbs. oz. ($45.49) ($0.08 per oz)
Raspberries: 8lbs 15 oz ($33.75) ($0.25 per oz)
Zucchini 25 lbs. 10 oz ($27.18) ($0.0625 per oz)
Garlic 7 oz (unknown)
Beet greens: 4.5 oz (unknown)
Beet bulbs: 1lbs. 0 oz. (unknown)
Bell Pepper: 2lbs. 6 oz ($2.37) ($0.0625 per oz.)
Potatoes: 23lbs. 2oz  ($23.12) ($0.0625 per oz.)
Chinese Squash: 9lbs. 4oz (unknown)
Blackberries: 4.5 oz (unknown)
Tomatillos: 3 lbs. 13 oz ($9.97) ($0.18 per oz)
Tomatoes: 50 lbs. 15 oz ($50.98) ($0.0625 per oz.)
Chinese Long Bean: 15 oz (unknown) ($2.80) ($0.18 per oz)

(Shelled pea total Wando and Dwarf: 1 lbs. 13oz)
(Grand total: $351.95)

Thought I should write at least one more post concerning Finland. Our final day was very low-key - we did some shopping, picking up the Kalevala, a Papa Moomin stuffed toy, and The Canine Kalevala. After seeing the works of art in the museum, the humorous illustrations of dogs was just too much for us to pass on. Ironically enough, I expect to read the Canine version before the real version, but that will probably help as I'll have a better idea of the general plot of the longer work and should find it easier to keep track of. After that we had a light dinner, a nice long sleep (about 7 hours) and than Jukka drove us to the airport for our flight out.

The flight back wasn't too bad, but it was worse than the one going. Suzi and I were both looking forward to returning home, but not with the same excitement we had concerning arriving in Finland. Our friend Chris met us at the airport and we had a brief dinner before making the 1.5 hour drive to our wee town of Coshocton, Ohio. We took yesterday off completely (only doing what absolutely had to be done) and are now back into the swing of things.

Finland? Well, it's been a long and strange trip. There are times in one's life that live brightly. Usually brief moments of intense activity or of powerful emotion, or of both. I think Finland is going to be one of those things that we will not forget for our entire lives. The land was beautiful, the hosts gracious and considerate, and the food and fun thoroughly enjoyable. I've always viewed my life as flowing down a river with the scenery on the sides changing as I go. Some places and people stay on the shore for a long time as we continue our journey together, others are but momentary encounters, and everything but Suzi will pass in time. In this I feel that Finland, and the Finns we met, are only brief companions, but ones that I will fondly remember until this river reaches the sea.

We've arrived home safe and sound and tired as all get out. Will post more later about the rest of our trip.

Yesterday, Suzi and I entered the RopeCon twilight zone - the Con is over, but the Con is not over - the afterparty awaits. We spent most of the day at the hotel recuperating from the Sing Star contest of the the prior evening. We woke too late for breakfast and the hotel doesn't serve lunch so we make a quick walk to the local small grocery store. I love shopping in foreign grocery stores. It's there that you can really peek behind the curtain and get a better understanding of what a culture is like and what it values. Product placement, quality, price and packaging speek a lot about the mind behind those choices.

We quickly ate our sandwiches and then arrived at the afterparty. There was grilling and drinking and saunaing to be had by all and it was a wonderful night. I made 5 trips in and out of sauna and it's a physical experience that's hard to describe if one hasn't felt it. It's euphoric and floaty and all together good. I believe Suzi did the roughly the same as I. She, unlike me, did the naked seaman wrestling and lost badly - luckily I was able to avoid embarrassing myself in front of such a large crowd as I did meet the male champion in the sauna and, although I am a large guy and used to be a power lifter, I'm far past my prime and think it would have been a disappointing match at best. I know that much of it is skill and experience and suspect that strength, though important, isn't as important as balance and leverage - both of which, owing to the half-dozen or so drinks I'd consumed, I was seriously lacking at the time.

At the end of the night we had a firebreathing demonstration by a Finn whose name escapes me, but who (of his own admission) had more courage than common sense. But nothing was burnt and no one was injured so the experience was thoroughly enjoyable. Since he breaths a non-drinkable alcohol he was constantly spitting into the Baltic and some tended to dribble down his chin, making me think of writing an adventure called The Curse of the Dribbling Dragon. I think there's some potential in that mine and it surely sounds interesting. Inspiration comes from many different sources.

After the after party we went to a private party with some of our hosts and ate some tasty chocolate fruit fondue and just talked quietly about different subjects. I greatly enjoyed the low-keyness of the party and Suzi and I trundled off to bed around 4:30am or so. All in all, the after party was the perfect bookend on pretty much a perfect Finland/RopeCon experience.