The Shadow of Yesterday is done!

[Clinton R. Nixon]

Printing begins on the book today at 5pm. Layout was done this morning at 5:30am.

This game took three years, approximately. I re-wrote it twice. I ended up performing all art and layout tasks using only free, open-source software. I should probably do a write-up about that in Publishing, which I'll do when I'm not exhausted. And the text is completely free for anyone to read, and anyone to create derivative works from. (Actually, you could just re-publish it. If you felt like it, you could get all your own art, format it to a 4" tall x 12" wide book, and print it up and sell it.)

Anyway, I'm fielding questions here. I've made several games in the past, but this feels like my first real one, with the others just being practice runs. Anyway who's curious about the process I went through (how'd I design the game? how'd I decide on layout? how'd I invent the cultures and species?), feel free to ask.

[Keith Senkowski]

Clinton,

Bought damn time.  Oh and how does my art look?  Badass right?
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Okay, okay actual questions...

I am curious about how you went about developing the cultures and whatnot.  I wonder if it mirrored my own process with Conspiracy of Shadows or if you had a different approach.

That is a cool format (4 x 12).  What was the final page count and why that format?

What led you to make the big design descisions (ie the conflict mechanic, character creation process, etc)?

Keith

[Clinton R. Nixon]

Bought damn time.  Oh and how does my art look?  Badass right?

I'd like to say up front that Keith's art is amazing. The pictures I have on my website don't touch the goodness of his last piece. I'm thinking of getting a poster of it.

That is a cool format (4 x 12).  What was the final page count and why that format?

(laugh) That's not the format. (The final product is 6" x 9" and 170 pages.) It was an example of what you can do because I've given the text a Creative Commons license. If you like the idea, though, your art's great. Make a Bob Goat widescreen version of the game. I'd buy one.

I am curious about how you went about developing the cultures and whatnot.  I wonder if it mirrored my own process with Conspiracy of Shadows or if you had a different approach.

Reading, reading, and more reading. Qek is inspired as much by my recent reading of Solomon Kane and Nix's Sabriel as anything else. For some cultures, I just went with some revisionist fantasy. Maldor, the largest culture in the game, is [insert generic D&D country here] bombed out. Khale came because I read Avalanche Press' excellent "Celtic Age." Ammeni was just because I like reading about French Indochina. The Zaru, though - I'm not sure. They're my favorite culture, but don't really have an inspiration. Snow Crash was a little bit of an influence on their word-magic.

What led you to make the big design descisions (ie the conflict mechanic, character creation process, etc)?

Again, reading, reading, reading (RPGs), and the addition of playtesting. Originally, the system wasn't much besides a task resolution system with Keys. (Keys: stolen from Riddle of Steel's Spiritual Attributes, but made more fluid.) In playtesting, it bogged down heavily when play went from narration to characters trying to do anything complex. So, I ripped out complex resolution and looked at systems that work. HeroQuest was the major inspiration here.

Little things throughout the game are thumbs-up to other systems, though.  Pool refreshment is straight-out of Dying Earth, which deserves more praise than it gets. Qek necromancy might as well be Sorcerer in different clothes.

[Keith Senkowski]

(laugh) That's not the format. (The final product is 6" x 9" and 170 pages.) It was an example of what you can do because I've given the text a Creative Commons license. If you like the idea, though, your art's great. Make a Bob Goat widescreen version of the game. I'd buy one.

Ahhhhhhhh...  Missed that part.  Care to share why you decided to go Creative Commons with it?  I'm sure plenty of folks would be interested in it.

Keith

[Clinton R. Nixon]

The reasoning can be found at http://www.anvilwerks.com/creative_commons.html. To recap, though:

* I'm a hobbyist first. I'd like to see reams of support material for my games. Easiest way to do that: let fans write it. In this, my goals aren't that different from the d20 License, with the exception that I'm not a monolithic entity that thinks that by keeping character creation out of the picture, you'll be forced to buy my game. I know the truth on this one: you'll buy my game because you read something I wrote online, and you like it, and you want to support me, plus see some Keith Senkowski art.

* Secondly, and more important, I hold firm to the following beliefs. Information is power, and applied information is wealth. By sharing information of any sort with others, you empower them, and that is a Good Thing.

[GaryTP]

Clinton,

Just pre-ordered. Looking forward to it.
Wish you well at Gen Con So Cal.

Gary

[Andrew Navaro]

Congrats, Clinton!

Thanks again for bringing me in on the project--I had a blast.  I look forward to seeing the finished product (and using it!).

Take care,
Andrew

[Matt Wilson]

Three of my pre-orders arrived today! Woo hoo! Looks goddamn beautiful, man.