So... Whatcha Workin' On?

[Andy Kitkowski]

What kinds of projects you got going on?

RPG-Related:

Indie RPG Awards- ramping it up, getting ready to put it into sustaining mode so that I don't have to touch it until it's time to build the voting mechanism, and then hand it over to the next torch-bearer after GenCon this year.

24 Hour RPG Site- Planning the next Grand Act, and also planning out some Non-24H events: Like Iron Chef events, simple week-long events where the goal is to make a game about X in time limit Y: "Make a Superhero /Conspiracy game within one week", "Make a Horror game without monsters within one week", etc. Also, by GenCon I also hope to have this site ramped up and ready to turn over to the next administrator.

My own games- Aren't really going anywhere because of the above, which is why I'm trying to shuffle them off. :-)

Tenra Bansho Zero- Taking a week-long break from translating, but looking to make a playable demo copy for the folks involved with the project by the end of the month.  Hoping to have a pictureless ashcan by GenCon, and a fully published version by next February.

The Shadow of Yesterday... In Japanese! I kinda committed a few minutes a week to at least translating terms/concepts.  Later, I hope to put together a copy, full on in Japanese, complete with art purchased from my buddies in the underground manga market that publish erotic/porno manga (as I mentioned elsewhere, "The Shadow of the Aggressive Anal Dickgirls of Yesterday").

Non-RPG Related:

House- Just moved into the first house in February, and I'm still getting used to the responsibility of things like lawn care, house care, preemptive plumbling/fixing, etc.  The tradeoff of having your own place is that you have to spend a couple hours a week doing something to it. Living in a house doesn't seem like a project, but in the PMP world they'd definitely call it an Operation.

Studying Japanese- I'm trying to learn at least 10 Kanji a week- Since I left Japan, my language skills have been getting worse and worse, and recently they feel like they're at an all-time low.  So I'm trying to rebuild myself, piece by piece.

Web Design-  More like my wife's project (it's her job), but I help with coding, DB, scripts, etc.  Right now we're working on Ben's company's site (Tao Games), as well as putting together a proposal for a government supported online Atomic Bomb museum. Also trying to do stuff with the other sites I have, like www.bladeoftheimmortal.net and www.j-rpg.com ...

eBay- Getting together a mass of books, PS2 games, RPGs, Anime and import DVDs to sell on th' Bay.  Another clearing, I guess; post-move stuff so that I get it out of the house and into the hands of people who want it, rather than stuffing it in a box in the attic somewhere.

Exercise- The project that I need to get the most time on, I end up doing the least. :-(  I set a goal of losing a pound a week until I get to my ideal weight, but making the time to do so has been a challenge that I've been putting off.  I just started getting back into exercise, though, with buying a punching bag stand, getting a gym membership, and playing DDR a lot: The "1 pound a week" train is back on its tracks.

Getting a New Kitten- Because I like to plan the heck out of things, this is becoming quite a project on its own.  I've been contacting local humane and regular animal shelters, getting solid info, making a plan of attack to score a cute kitten within the next month.  Kitten Attack!

That's the major stuff for me, for now.
-Andy

[Judd]

I'm 30,000 words into  a novel called Elvis Pendragon that has been on the back-burner for far too long.

My long-in-the-coming Sorcerer mini-supplement, Dictionary of Mu.

A d20 world book about the end of all worlds and the world created to stave off the destruction.

About to begin work on a masters degree in Library Science.

I'd like to get into shape again.  That'd be nice.

[xenopulse]

RPGs:

torn (see posts in the indie design forum).

P/E (see link below).

Web of Power (see Unfinished Game Ideas thread)

TEMEG (ditto)

Non-RPG:

Editing my novel, Betrayer, to send out later this year. Currently at 70,000 words after some heavy cutting.

Kajukenbo, gearing up to go to MMA tournaments again to compete.

Keeping track of my 14-month-old and helping to homeschool the 10- and 12-year-olds. (We're secular homeschoolers.)

Now and then, composing some techno/industrial songs (see sig).

That's about it :)

[Jeph]

RPG Related:

First and formost, Exemplar Revised Edition, using a d6+stat+mods vs. TN mechanic. In fact, the whole thing has, like, a dozen similarities to the original, all in all, including both setting and system. It's much darker, more encouraging of min-maxing and rewarding of player-level strategy, and is designed for longterm and even generational play rather than a miniseries format. Incredibly close to the point where I will begin playtesting. I hope to put up a free rough version on 1km1kt.net, a pay .pdf on RPGnow, and, if all that goes well and I can get my shit together, a print version.

On the backburner, a revision of Legends of Middle Earth. This is the next and likely final incarnation that begin with the original Exemplar and I touched up with the original LoME. It's very similar to the original, with some artificial distinctions and inelegant dropped in favor of tighter replacements and the odd entirely necessary yet entirely excluded mechanic (such as one vs. many and many vs. many contests in which more than one character on each side does anything of note) woven in.

Sporadically, I consider having another go at a fantasy heartbreaker. I start them frequently, but never really finish.

A portfolio of maps that I have drawn for my and my friends' campaign worlds also enlarges itself upon occasion.

.

Other:

Highschool, and various extracurriculars related thereto.

Learning illustrator.

Causing an indie rock library to spring forth from the loins of the Internet and take up residence on my hard drive.

A Nomic.

[Mark Johnson]

Not designing.  Not playing.  Just working.

[Lance D. Allen]

Mage Blade, still. Mechanically, it's nearing completion. I've got two major areas that still need to be done, specifically character creation, and rules for magic. Once those are done, it's all comparatively minor details, and a great deal of playtesting and tweaking.

Designing a CRPG, using Game Maker. It's for a class, actually, but I intend to continue working with the program even after I move on to more "serious" programming methods.

Moving on in my education. An Associates in Science this semester, then transferring to the University to continue onto my Bachelor's in Computer Science.

Every so often the urge to return to ReCoil arises, and I go read play logs and ponder.

[Jonathan Walton]

Jeeze, what am I NOT doing?

Immediate Concern #1: Push (warning: draft webpage), this progressive roleplaying journal I'm putting together with a motley crew of inquiring minds.  Very good stuff being produced, but we need our collective asses kicked so we can get the first issue done by GenCon.

Immediate Concern #2: My Fulbright Fellowship, what I'm in China to do.  Done a ton of reading, but I need to get more of my ideas on paper.  I'm looking at comparative historiography of the Taiping Rebellion.  It's thrill a minute, but not if you're not interested in Chinese studies or history.

Immediate Concern #3: Well, after Push, it's all about Vesperteen, my pseudo-sequel to Jason Blair's  Little Fears.  It's about Sin and Teenagers.  Very icky, but hopefully in an entertaining and meaningful way.  It's kinda a "WoD + Vincent Baker Heartbreaker," if that makes any sense.  Good for making you and your fellow players uncomfortable, but in a consensual way.

After that, it's a toss up.  There's my Mountain People variant for Dogs ("Lions on the Precipice"), the can't-keep-my-eyes-from-the-circling-skies game I promised Shreyas two years ago ("Fingers on the Firmament"), the too-meta-for-its-own-good game I promised Eero ("Humble Mythologies"), my own post-modern-novel-based game (the one that's had 6 different titles so far), and Push 2006, which is a theme issue based around the question "what if roleplaying developed from something other than wargaming?" (we already have 3-4 proposals for that issue and it looks HOT!)

Oh, yeah, and I have to think about applying to grad school and what I want to do with the rest of my life.  And get over these annoying anxiety issues that I've been having recently.

[Lxndr]

RPG-Related:

Fastlane - After my convalescence due to the motorcycle accident, I've now got Fastlane distributed through the Indie Press Revolution, who will also help promote the game.  I'm also planning on running demos in local game shops now that I can travel around again without a ride, and at the local convention.

Shangri-la - finally getting off my ass and working on this, everything is weaving together.  Still need to actively work on defining threads as a particle, but I know how they work with the other particles in the game, which is a big plus.  Working on the first preliminary ugly draft which should be posted soon.

Frigid Bitch - Shelved now so I can focus my design efforts on Shangri-la, but I will dust it off, pull it out, polish it and get it done before GenCon SoCal (I specifically do not want it out at Indy, as I think its theme works better with a winter release).  

Indie Press Revolution - In addition to being a customer, I'm also an investor now.  So, yay on that.

Other Design Projects - Still taking notes, making ideas, etc.  Not going to really go into them in detail since, well, they have no detail.  These include several original projects and a Sorcerer minisupplement set on Mars.

Play - Running a rockin' Dogs game (even if a town that I thought would take one session is now taking three), and playing in a Riddle game that had a rocky start, but as the players keep embracing the SAs, is gathering steam.  

Non-RPG Related:

House - Waffling on house-hunting, which I think I'm not going to do right now (buying a bigger house at this point in my life means RELYING on renters instead of just ENJOYING the extra income, so I'm going to wait until I get a raise or something in my job).  And if I'm not house hunting, I'm going to build out my porch into a full-fledged lanai.

Work - Applying like crazy to every single position that I can think of to get me off the phones, while staying with this company, which I do like quite a lot.  In the meanwhile, walking along the middle of the road.

Healing- Although I've graduated from Physical Therapy, my hand still has occasional aches, pains and weakness that will only be healed by time and effort.  So, I'm putting in time and effort into that.  But I can at least ride my motorcycle and not worry about my strength, so I have tnat much anyway.

Hypnosis - I keep putting this on the backburner.  One day I'd love to do this as my primary job.  But I'm too much of a chickenshit to, y'know, try to start my own business like that, since this would almost have to be a primary business, with officespace and stuff like that.