7/15/2020 update: Layout's begun, Fantasy Punk race preview
about 6 years ago
– Wed, Jul 15, 2020 at 09:29:25 PM
Hi all,
I'm just hopping in for a smallish update. I've started preliminary layout on the book, and am wrapping up a couple of sections, notably the Fantasypunk framework I call Cybercanum.
You'll find a link to a smallish PDF that introduces three races (dragonkin, Elf, and Dwarf). The other two are Jotunn-Blooded (Half Giants) and Orcs. Below is a sample image. Note that the elf needs a revision; she should be Hispanic.
You can check out the pdf by clicking the link below:
Preview
06/29/2020: Chapter 1 Rough
about 6 years ago
– Wed, Jul 01, 2020 at 08:33:12 PM
Hi everyone,
I've attached the rough draft of Chapter One. It covers many elements of the game, but focuses primarily on world-building.
I also go into detail on VR, and some VR worlds. Pinnacle Entertainment has kindly let me write up some overviews of their settings. I have an image for the section of someone you might recognize :)
Anyhow, I hope you like the chapter! You can get it here:
Chapter One Rough
6/26/2020: Follow up on my last two updates
about 6 years ago
– Sat, Jun 27, 2020 at 02:38:52 PM
So, one night, back in 1996, my brother and I are getting ready for a Fantasy LARP we thought might be fun to join. We go to the grocery store and get some spray paint for a project related to the LARP and leave the store. We don't even get half a block away when cops stop us and ask us where we're going, why we have a can of spray paint, what we are planning to do with it, are we in a gang...It goes on and on. I have to sit there and describe every tattoo I have (most of which I got while I was in the Navy) so they can put me and my brother into a gang database. Also, bear in mind, that the can of spray paint was in a bag, so how did they even know (and so fast) that I had a can of spray paint?
I logically know this shit is jacked up, and I should just exercise my right to keep my mouth shut without an attorney present, but that'll likely just bring more cops and escalate the situation, so I sit there and take it.
In 2000 my wife and I drove up to Salt Lake City from Texas to visit my family and go camping. As soon as I fucking get close to my grandmother's house, this cop who had been following me ever since I got off the freeway, pulls me over and literally says he did it because I had an out of state license plate and he wanted to know if I'm bringing drugs up from Texas.
Again, I should have exercised my rights and told him to get a warrant if he wanted to search the truck, but that would have brought more cops, and I didn't want to get my wife involved.
It's only now that I realize what was going on inside my head when I made Teusday's Post. I posted that because I'm still incredibly angry over what happened to me. I’m incredibly angry over what is happening across this country, and I’m just some white dude who legally bought a damned can of spray paint. I was guilty of driving with an out-of-state license plate. You may think I’m making a mound out of an ant hill, that what happened to me was nothing (compared to what people of color go through every day, it was nothing).
You might think, well if you weren’t doing anything wrong, what did you have to be worried about?
You’re completely missing the point.
What I was subjected to is a misuse of power. I don’t care if they were following procedure. I fit some profile and was stopped for it. Screw my rights as a law-abiding citizen. I looked different and therefore I needed to be questioned.
Please take a moment and consider what it’s like to be a person of color, and how this type of thing happens to them all the time. How much more are they affected by this kind of behavior? How deeply rooted are these feelings of helplessness (and yes literal fear for their lives or those of their loved ones) in their minds? It's taken me almost 24 years to come to grips with this and realize how it has affected me.
Yes. I absolutely know there are GOOD, HEROIC men and women in law enforcement who put their lives on the line every single day. I know police officers DIE in the line of duty. Policing is the hardest job, especially in the United States and I won’t deny that there are some extremely violent people in our society who need to be taken off the streets, and it’s the police who have to risk their lives doing just that.
I know it must be impossible to be a police officer right now, especially if you are doing your job the right way. You’re getting branded as corrupt and judged for the actions of a few. I’m sorry for my part with my Kickstarter post and the trauma it may have caused you.
I sincerely hope you can forgive me, but I do stand with Black Lives Matter, and I do feel like something has to change with regards to law enforcement in this country.
I don't know HOW this needs to change. I DO strongly believe that police are desperately needed, wanted, and loved. I don't think the police need to be "defunded" or abolished entirely. You and your family members deserve so much respect and admiration.
My Tuesday update did come from a place of anger, and I'm sorry I subjected you to that.
As I said before, the Campaign Theme and the Plot Point Campaign are staying in, but I need to go through it and make sure it's written with a level of sensitivity to the current conditions.
The rest of the manuscripts are pretty much done. I have one chapter to send to editors and then it's layout and art.
Well that happened
about 6 years ago
– Fri, Jun 26, 2020 at 12:33:18 AM
First things first.
I want to apologize to everyone I've offended.
I REALLY didn't mean to...Like I said initially, I've been extremely conflicted over this. I don't take this sort of thing lightly.
I'll keep the Campaign Theme in, and I'm sorry I even brought it up.. It's just HARD for me right now, and even though I've been thinking alot about this, I rushed to judgement.
Please forgive me.
06/23/2020 update: Various Issues
about 6 years ago
– Thu, Jun 25, 2020 at 01:58:17 PM
Thanks for your patience,
I’m hopping in because I want to discuss a few things and get your feedback.
I’ve been working on finalizing the last few elements of the GM’s Guide, and I have to be honest; this month has been rough, both mentally, and emotionally. The unrest in this country over police brutality and the murder of George Floyd has given me…I don’t want to say a new perspective on the horrors that have been visited on black communities for hundreds of years, but rather a new sense of clarity about my place as a white man in this nation.
Yes, I have white privilege, and I have never been more aware of it than I have this past month. What happened to George Floyd and many, many people of color likely never would have happened to me or any white person I know. It’s really tough to reconcile that fact with many things in my life, especially the fact that I have, for many years, been “woke” to the fact that racism in the ranks of law enforcement agencies across this nation is systemic, and yet I’ve largely been quiet. I abhor racism in all it’s forms. I believe the justice system in the United States is in dire need of change, which brings me to the subject of Interface Zero.
I’m cutting the Sector Cop Campaign Theme from both the Player’s Guide and the GM’s Guide. I can’t in good conscience provide a platform for police to be “heroes.” I’ll also be donating a portion of the proceeds from the Game Master’s Guide to 2095 to Black Lives Matter and encourage all of you to do so as well.
For more information on Black Lives Matter, you can check out their webpage here:
https://secure.actblue.com/donate/ms_blm_homepage_2019
Now, on to a couple other things.
I’ve been receiving a lot of feedback (largely negative) on starting cryptodollars, specifically that it’s just too much, so I’m also thinking of dropping starting funds to half the original amount, so 10k cryptodollars rather than 20k.
I’m also considering just cutting Origins Equipment altogether, as having BOTH starting money and starting equipment apparently doesn’t sit well with some people.
I’m also considering adding basic rules for VR into the Player’s Guide rather than the GM’s Guide, as it makes more sense to give players basic rules to create avatars and play in VR worlds.
Finally, I want to take a look at adding a few more things to the equipment chapter, mainly toolkits and possibly some more electronics and other things.
Anyhow, I need to get back to work,
Thanks for your patience, and please, I want to hear from you, so let me know what your thoughts are on everything I’ve discussed!
Edit: After Initial Feedback, I'll consider keeping it in, though I object to it.
