Adept Press state o'the nation

[Ron Edwards]

What I'm up to

For sure, bordering on urgent

Shahida layout: almost done. I have to review the whole thing once more, and deal with some individual graphics issues. I sure wish I'd reserved a little chunk of the Kickstart funds to pay someone for exactly that, but that's the past for you. Suggestions about promoting this book are very welcome.

S/Lay Kickstart prep: looking good! The Lover figurine is almost done, the soundtrack is almost done, and the new book is written and in layout. I'd like to start reviewing the prototype app, now that I'm home again.

Musing and scribbling

The Heartbreaker Redemption Project - this is my big behind-the-scenes work at the moment, including extensive playtesting of my revised game Circle of Hands - it looks very likely to be a third kickstart toward the end of the year, either December 1 or if it's not ready by then, January 1. It'll be a joint project with a number of other people with dusty heartbreakers on their shelves.

Doctor Chaos - planned for a later kickstart, after I re-connect with some comics people and see who can really bring it for a dedicated webcomic. But the game is in great shape; the Beta is totally ready for external playtest by whoever and whenever, and I'd love to get some feedback. Jesse, you'll really like the changes.

Amerikkka - extremely enjoyable reading, note-taking, occasional draft-taking, and working up the alpha playtest manuscript. I've accepted that these are years-long projects, but I hope this one won't take as long as Shahida did. No pregnancies to consider, for one thing.

An essay about sandboxes, or more generally, scenario prep for adventure fantasy.

A related essay with some thoughts on D&D, specifically orthodoxy, fundamentalism, and finding Jesus.

Later but still active

Religion games - these are very much a matter of primary playtesting myself, at this point. Although if anyone thinks he or she catches on, upon reading one of the documents, then go for it. The games have all already benefited thereby.

For better or worse, I've decided to switch to song-title looting for all three: Estimated Prophet, Shine a Light, and Cathedral. That means I ought to come up with a third name for the "line." Oh yeah! And remember how each one is also technically a Ronnies concept, built from two terms from a given round? I just conceived a fourth, built on "amazon" and "lust." It's about ... um ... you'll see.

At present I have no sales ambitions for these; I think they'll be nice downloads for interested parties but no immediate promotional campaign or realistic expectation of sales comes to mind.

Dammit, Jim, I'm a doctor, not a game designer! Oh wait

So usually when I'm Adept Press, I totally ignore myself as Ph.D. in Zoology, with minor forays like the Do Dragons Have Penises business, some of the Azk'Arn material, or being like this regarding various mis-uses of evolutionary thought. However, there's enough crossover here to mention, at least so you know some stuff on my mind.

I've written up a book, like a real book, working title Man Nor Beast, about the novel The Island of Doctor Moreau. It's looking good for publication through a big ol' book publisher and slated for kind of "academic press with popular division" release. It's awesomely insightful and cool - or that's what I think anyway. I'm mainly mentioning it here, though, to say that a fair chunk of my creative time is going to be spent on it.

Best, Ron

[Thunder_God]

Talk about keeping busy!

[Ron Edwards]

And to add to all that! Essays won't stop breeding in my head.

1. Dusting off my investigation of the term "sandbox" relative to several adventure/scenario modules for D&D of various kinds.

2. The fundamentalism post for my current musings about D&D subculture.

3. Combining my old essay A Hard Look at Dungeons & Dragons, the recent standalone points, then in sequence, the orthodoxy, fundamentalism, and UU points retooled from the forum posts, for a huge "D&D is Jesus" essay.

[David Berg]

Hi Ron,

I have downloaded Doctor Chaos and will see if I can find some folks to try it with.  Right now I'm reading the part about Graviton, which has me both agreeing and laughing out loud.

An essay about sandboxes, or more generally, scenario prep for adventure fantasy.

This is a subject I'm extremely interested in, so I'm eager to see what you come up with.  If you find yourself in the mood for discussion on this forum, I'd be game!  Most of my own work tackles how to support meaningful navigation of the sandbox, so it's neither aimless wandering nor disconnected cuts between dungeons.

Ps,
-David

[Troy_Costisick]

And to add to all that! Essays won't stop breeding in my head.

1. Dusting off my investigation of the term "sandbox" relative to several adventure/scenario modules for D&D of various kinds.

2. The fundamentalism post for my current musings about D&D subculture.

3. Combining my old essay A Hard Look at Dungeons & Dragons, the recent standalone points, then in sequence, the orthodoxy, fundamentalism, and UU points retooled from the forum posts, for a huge "D&D is Jesus" essay.

I'm really looking forward to these!

[Ron Edwards]

Unfortunately, I scribbled all over that essay's draft and made absolutely crucial conceptual changes ... and now I can't find the copy. This tends to happen to me, often at the very worst moment for the process. I am licking my wounds and may recover.

(editing this in Oct 17: I found it! writing now)

More positively, the Arabic and the graphics for Shahida have all passed muster and are now in final prep for print. As you know, the D&D/Jesus threads are all in place, and I'll let the discussion wax for as long as it needs to before converting it all to an essay. Playtesting Circle of Hands is proceeding extremely well, and reading and note-taking for Amerikkka continues too (Hearing the Voices of Jonestown at the moment).

I'm bummed about the failed Kickstart, but I'm enjoying the resulting G+ community and look forward to some of the stuff we're talking about there.