The third book in the Glyph series is now available. This book follows Jee and Fisik Hill, the parents of Mechal and Audee from the previous books. They have names now! Previously they were just Mom and Dad.

This one’s a doozy. Mom and Dad have had a rough time and it’s just getting worse. Fisik is being hunted and Jee is struggling to free herself of the pain she’s suffered by burning down the world. Fun times!

Check out Progenitor on Amazon for a print book or itch.io for a downloadable PDF.

There’s a sequel to my novel Glyph and it’s available now. This book follows Audee as she tags along with her brother on an adventure to an inhabited world. The worlds all around their home are desolate and broken, but one world is still alive.

Audee is getting messages from an unknown sender and they warn that the plan they’re following to save lives will not work. It takes time for her to learn why she’s getting these messages and longer to form a new plan that could work.

Check out Hegira on Amazon for a print book or itch.io for a downloadable PDF.

You can also get the original book Glyph on Amazon and itch.

The third book is already a quarter done so keep an eye on this space.

The last few years of scouring various sources for communication secrets is done! Talking to Humans is now available on Amazon.

I had a thought this morning. What if your highest stats were your flaws?

What if, when you made a mistake, it was because you over relied on your strength? For example, someone who’s smart but thinks they’re a genius. Or someone that is determined but sticks too long to a plan that isn’t working.

The idea is to paint the character in a way that could range from cartoonish to deeply dysfunctional. The goal is to explain failure with a theme that builds who the character is or maybe wants to be.

I think the Energy System could be used to do that. I wonder if it would resonate with players? If built right, it could deliver a lot of laughs.

I’m consolidating some of my far flung posts in different places. This is one of them.

I’m going through some basic business advice on making allies and as I read thoughts are popping out that I’d like to track. So here’s my disjointed notes so far.

Be strategic – Think about who you would like to have as an ally. What skills might they have? What resources? This might sound cold but running around asking everyone to be your ally is probably not going to be helpful.

Be a fan – You’ve heard the advice “be a fan of your players” that’s very similar to being a fan of other designers. Maybe they’re not making what you want to make (and that’s good) but find things in their technique or some other aspect of their work.

Compromise – Try it their way. It might not be the direction you wanted to go but try following their suggestions and see what happens.

Communicate – Ask people what they need to start a project on an idea they’re talking about. Ask them what they need to finish a project. If they ask for something you can’t offer, say so and then counter offer with any skills or resources you think could help. This doesn’t have to be you doing work. If they need a skill you don’t possess, do you know someone that does?

Give dignity – Even if you’ve been doing something for fifty years and they’re brand new, treat them as an equal. Talk about what you think they’re doing right and ask for more.

Respect Input – Even if you won’t use what someone is telling you, thank them and let them know you’ll keep it in mind.

Spend time – If they’re local or if you’ll be at the same con, make the time to at least say hi and have a chat. If you do end up working together, possibly meeting up on hangouts or Skype, is a good option for being friendly.

Your allies’ allies are your allies – That’s it I just wanted to write that.

Give credit liberally – Don’t hold back. Strive to have your next title page full of credits. Look for opportunities to credit people even if it’s just a “Thank You” section.

Don’t drop an ally – Maybe you hate their new project. Don’t give up on them yet, even if what they are currently up to just isn’t your cup of tea.

Reciprocate – When you’ve been done a good deed, do what’s practical to return a favor.

Say no politely – There will be times where you can’t help and things you can’t do. Say no politely and let them know what to expect from you in the future.

I always wanted to make a solo RPG and today I came up with something of a formula for how to make one. This is very preliminary but I put together a game I’m calling The Lost, about a small starship that is trying to get back home.

The Lost

I’m hoping to be able to use the structure here to do other RPGs but for this one, I would like to expand on the moves and the hazard tables.

Update

I added a few moves and clarified some language.

Updated again 4-16-18

Added two new navigation hazards.

Some time ago, my son and I did some world building on a modern day setting where people were being turned into monsters. The monsters look like regular people but they take victims and turn them into more monsters.

The players are hunters, regular people that have lost loved ones to the monsters or “agents” that are pulling strings for a shadowy organization.

This time we’re telling it with a little twist. It’s said that the Whisperers will destroy the world but who are the whisperers?

The trick to this setting is that it can’t be all written down because knowledge is the real power in this game. That fits pretty well with the Gut Reaction RPG that I just wrote.

So here it is, Whisperers

Guardian

Melsa left the grehawk. It let out a awful shriek and tried to get up. Although it was dying, it was still dangerous.

As it stumbled to get up it’s huge talons nearly crushed me. They caught my shirt and tore it down the middle. My arrow quiver belt ripped as the claw caught it, lifted me up and and slammed me to the ground. As it was, the bird was unaware it could snuff out my life.

I reached into my quiver and grabbed an arrow. About the time I pulled it out and tried to jamb it into the grehawk’s foot it stumbled backward, releasing me from it’s pin. It’s huge wings, each three times my hight thrashed around.

It shrieked again. Now laying on the ground with it’s talons grasping up at the air, like if it could grab the sky one more time it might be free. It’s beak opened and closed, gulping down air. The huge bird’s eyes rolled back in it’s head. It let out one more shriek, gasped again and then lay dead. Continue reading “World Door – Chapter 7 Guardian”

I imagine AIs in Jump Temp as having more of a personal user interface. Imagine as you call out the AI’s name, it responds, not just by voice, but also by a visual interface. Small projectors around the ship turn on and seemingly the wall opens up like there was a door there all the time and the AI’s avatar steps through it and starts to interact with you like it’s any other person. The avatar of most AI’s are that of a handsome man or woman but there are plenty of creative avatars that an AI could adopt. Of course the “door” isn’t real, it’s just an image being projected and so the AI’s avatar is also a product of the projection.

So in reality, there are a lot of people that spend a good amount of time talking to the walls. Of course that’s probably where they embedded microphones so it helps the AI hear them better.

Need to refuel but far away from home? Or maybe you’re not so keen on running into certain law enforcement officials, you know, for “personal” reasons. A ram scoop may be right for you! Sure it’s technically dangerous, and the course you pilot to skim over those gas giants could destroy the ship if you’re off by a few dozen meters, but it’s free.

Ram Scoop – Starship System
Cost 1d
System pool 1d

Conditional: Requires a 3d12 challenge using ship drive systems and the ramscoop’s system pool to pilot just over the atmosphere of a gas giant and collect hydrogen and oxygen from it. Provides one 1d of fuel replenishment for each time the rolls to defeat this challenge are ten over the challenge roll.

Properties: No Deplete