All this week is Read an RPG in Public Week. It’s meant to get the hobby “out of the basement” and into the public eye.

I already game at work, and keep a few of my RPG books there on my shelf, so this week is kinda like every day for me.

If you’re participating in the glorious week, make sure and snap a pic of yourself doing it and entering the contest over at Purple Pawn.  The prize pool is pretty slick, and contains a Tremorworks bundle that includes the above HDL Basic Rules.

I’ve said it before, I made a lot of mistakes with ElementaliS. I think the fear of future mistakes is what’s holding me back with my other designs. No matter what I try to work on, I keep coming back to ElementaliS and what I could have done with it.

That brings me to Phoenix Ash (Working title).

Phoenix Ash will be a completely rewritten set of ElementaliS rules that can be played with the base game and some new, printable cards.

From what I’ve worked on so far, the game is drastically simpler to comprehend, and WAY less fiddly. It’ll actually be the first of several card packs, each one dealing with a different element. The thing to keep in mind is that this isn’t an expansion, it’s a full game meant to truly replace ElementaliS.

Phoenix Ash obviously deals with Fire.

I can’t say when it’ll be released as I’m taking my time with it. I really don’t want to rush things.

I’m just hoping I’ll be satisfied and can move onto future projects.

It’s been 4 years. It’s time for something new.

Unfortunately more important priorities have arisen in life. Without going into too much detail, the play testing of the Spellbook has not been as thorough as I’d like it to have been. As of right now, I’m putting the Spellbook on hold.

I still continue to work on other designs, as well as some content for Sean’s HDL books, and will still soon release the first version of the ElementaliS Living Rulebook. I hope to come back to the Spellbook eventually, but have no idea when I will be able to.

ElementaliS has done very well, and even though I made a lot of mistakes along the way, I’m very proud to have gotten the game released. The Spellbook was to be the final expansion, and I cannot consider the game complete without it. Once things settle down, I hope to bring ElementaliS to a close.

1. Play more games.

2. Play War of the Ring

3. Play Descent: Journeys in the Dark.

4. Publish a new design.

I’m happy to say that 1 and 3 where a success! 4 was a mild success. I managed to publish the expansion set to ElementaliS, but not a totally new design.

As for 2, we’re moving that resolution to this year

It is coming along, though, and I should be able to release it Q1 of next 2009. Of course, it will be downloadable for free like the other expansions. At this time we don’t know if we’ll also offer a print version.

After a ton of procrastination, I’ve finished the intro to the HDL world setting that I’ve been jotting notes down for months now.

Tonight the the first night of many where I’ll be frantically trying to get my notes in order, and getting the book written.  Tonight is the start of trying to nail down mechanics to for new skills, fleshing out new backgrounds, and getting together a small group to playtest and help flesh out the world

Tonight I’ve done the hardest part of it all.  Taking the first step.

Hopefully I’ll keep the momentum going, and have a draft done by the end of the year.  Then it’ll be another couple of months editing, playtesting some more, purchasing art, and making revisions.  MAYBE I’ll be able to get the book out on the market before the end of next year.

Maybe.

There has been one change, though.  The rulebook will no longer be able to fit in the box.  Unfortuanately, to keep costs of doing this on-demand down, the rulebook will now be 5.5″ x 8.5″, just a bit too big to fit in the box.

This is unfortunate, as we wanted everything to go into the box, but it came down to a last minute decision, and we didn’t want to have to cancel the whole printing.

I’m also trying to get together some art for the book.  While ElementaliS has been a very minimal design from day 1, I’d really love to show everyone what these mages and their world looks like in my head.

The last section of the book will contain some strategy tips, world building, and design notes.

This expansion, like all the others, will be free to download.  No word yet on if we’ll be offering a print version.

Connecticon was last weekend, and it was a pretty good time.  I got to play some new games, prototypes, and demoed some Tremorworks stuff.  I also got a signed sketchbook from Hawk of Applegeeks, and a signed CD from Bob Picardo (the doctor from Star Trek: Voyager).  Can’t wait until next year!

The job is going well at Cronin Co.  I’m really enjoying the work I do, and have even setup a lunch time board game group!  The people there are fantastic, I’m learning new things almost everyday, and the perks are great.

Sean and I are in the process of setting up an interview with the Secret Identity Podcast to talk about Tremorworks stuff, which is really exiciting.  LUCID and the ElementaliS Expansion pack are being printed as we speak, and should meet our September expectations.