A little bit of Color...

Sorry for not posting something yesturday, but things have been hectic and I could not get to this or anything really. But for those interested in something that I will be looking to get into the book, then I give you this. I hope you enjoy it.

How could this have happened? We were foolish, we did not listen to them, to him. That damn dragon told us this would happen and now...they are all dead. Faster, yes faster then we thought...and now trapped. It's just me, a couple guards and what is left of the staff. God they are coming, I can hear them trying to get through the door.

Why didn't we listen, why didn't we hear. Did we think we were so much better then a dragon? The arrogance we showed him. But it is done now, the cataclysm has come. The fire is raining from the rift. The people, oh god the people...men, women, even children...all of them are dead. Their very essences turned into those damn crystals. But their bodies...they move, they rise, they walk and thirst. Not for flesh but for life, that is why they are trying to get in.

They want to drag us away, to present us to the crystals. If we touch one, we will be nothing, trapped in it, our bodies looking for more to feed it's tainted power. Oh god, they are getting through the doors. There are to many...why didn't we lis..t.....

- Chronicles of the Cataclysm

- Written by Jeramie Drebin, Human observer of Regent Othelo Valdamark

Building the Habit...

Well, in an effort to keep things going and build up a steady habit of writing. I am going to discuss one of MD's side projects. This is kind of in the same line as the business, since it is the expanding of the game into other genre's.

As I may have said before, I have filled or almost filled three notebooks by this point. One day about a month ago, I started to play another MMO style game called Navy Field. Not really the best of games, but it is addictive and it is also a play for free title.

As I played, something in the back of my mind started rolling and out came a fourth notebook. If your interested, this one is a black covered wire bound. The others are blue, red, and one of the less expensive black and white string bound types. Any way I started writing in it and twenty three pages later, I have the ground work of a table top strategy game based in space.

I have been wondering what to do with it since it is based on and in the Manifest Destiny universe. It takes place with in the age of war where five of the player races are duking it out in an interstellar war. There is allot of possibility in it, and with some massaging and polish, it can become one of the MD product line.

But I would be very interested in hearing opinions about this idea. Space based table top strategy games are a little rare from my experience. And there really is allot of room for them in table top and computers. I am open to suggestions.

Business and Pleasure

I am writing this RPG for a simple goal, to make some money. Now I am not expecting to make millions. I would like to make enough to comfortable with, more then that goes into the real of creating a broader business and pullin in full time people. But for now, I have to still get the Main book out as I note where it will go. And may be pull in some extra help willing to have their name in it over cold hard cash. Hey...stop laughing...I'm serious.

So the question is, where am I going to go and how will I get this to the seathing masses just waiting to plunk down twenty to thirty dollars for a new game? I will tell you. I am planning two initial books and to distribute them thought both PDF sales and physical copies.

The two books for the RPG are really the same. The first book is the full core rules and all of the fluf. It is everything that people expect from a core rule book. Pictues, story, hooks and ideas for the GM, the whole base system. The second book is a striped down version. This is a travel book, it has just the rules and space for some notation. No fluf, no pictures, no character creation...just everything you need to play the game.

I am doing this because if one or to people have the core book, why then does every one need a copy. Books are heavy things, and carrying them around can break your back. Why carry around seventy pages of story and character creation stuff when you have a character and do not need to story...right?

As for getting the RPG out there, I plan to publish through lulu.com. Their rates are good and I do not have to sell my soul to get things published. I can even offer a quality product that will not fall appart after you flip the page five times. Value keeps people comming back...and I want to offer value. IF you buy the core rules, why souldn't you get the PDF of the same book while you wait for your book?

If you buy the core rules, why shouldn't you be able to choose the redacted rule book instead as a PDF bundle. Heck, if you buy the main book, why not get the redacted book for less as a bundle. Are they separate producs, yes they are. But the goal is value.

There is allot more to this, and as you can see value is a key word to my efforts. So right now I am going to plan out my days for this blog so that you know when I will be talking about what...a little structure never hurt anybody. But needless to say, I am a gamer. And I plan to to offer great value for your hard earned dollars. It is what I would expect my self.

The death of a Computer... (Cont)

Well...the news gets better and better about my poor PC. Looks like it is pretty well out of my loving ability and in need of a $70 diagnosis from my favorite computer people, Micro Center! There is a silver lining at least.

The parts that could take a dive and are most probably at fault are under warranty. So all I have to do is hash it out with the culprits maker. Bad news is...More down time away from my documents and less writing. But I shall prevail in this...or find a way around it. I have some options available to me. Thank the maker for people making free distributed project management software. YAY!

A place in two Universes

Manifest Destiny takes place in two separate universes. The first universe, called the old world, is where the player comes from. While the second universe, the new world, is where the player will end up living. Bot universes present a unique opportunity for the role playing game experience.

The New World is the focus of the core RPG rule book. The player lives a life, becomes a colonist, and then is tossed through a portal to end up in the new world. Never to return to the old world and all she knew. This give you the opportunity to really break from the mold. As there are no archetypes, there is no real establishment, and the character can choose a path to do what ever. Be a raider, a thief, an enforcer, a hero, a guard, pretty much anything the player and the GM can come to agreement on.

The Old World is a place of established rules, of laws and cooperate task masters. Where the rich have the money, and the poor, if they get to rowdy, are hucked through a gaping hole in space and time. The governments of the old world are puppets and the wealthy keep it that way. This is really where your coming from, or being evicted from in Manifest Destiny.

I realized both areas are fertile soil for ideas. This has lead to my planning opportunities for players to play in these areas once I have completed my core book. Rules for table top battles in both space and on the ground. A game where you player a runner, attempting to escape forced colonization while committing criminal acts for the highest bidder. There is just allot of room for things in this two universe idea. That is why I did it...we are imaginative people. Why not use it.

The death of a computer...

Well...after a bonehead stunt om my part, my main computer is a brick. The choices of what could be going on are few. If I got lucky, my CPU just came unseated enough to be an issue. If not, then the CPU or the Mother Board droped dead...or both.

So, this has put something of a crimp in my writing of the RPG. I mean I have a back up computer and all, in fact I am using it right now. But most of my writing is on the one that just kicked it. So my options tend to be slim in what I can really do. At least this thing can, kind of, run Travian and Evony. But I have also had to set up a sitter in travian due to my being off trying to fix things.

Any way, I will try to keep working till I figure it out.

The Sunday Musings. vol. 1

Well it is Sunday, so I am not really going to talk about manifest destiny at all.  Instead I am just going to muse a little.  So best I guess to compose some random thoughts.

Thought 1: I have been playing a couple games as of late on my computer.  They are both MMO games to some degree.  But they are web based MMO's.  The first I started about two months ago when I stopped playing Warhammer Online.  It is called Travian and it is fun if not a little cut throat.  The older players can be really nice, or just plane ass's.  But it is a game and what is one to expect right?

The second web based mmo I have been playing is called Evony.  It is flash based and much like Travian, but it is far more complex.  Something that I can really get into given that I like to see and tinker with systems.  It almost reminds me of my days playing Eve Online...Now that game was fun.  And it really was not about the game at all but the people that I would chat with in the alliance or corporation.

Thought 2: I am not to sure there is a thought two...I have been thinking about the sixth race in the game and what it's description will be.  You see there are six races, and at first I only created cursory descriptions for them.  I have been in the process of doing better then that with more detailed descriptions of the in-game races.  The last one I need to do is the Vyrmkin (pronounced Verm - Kin).  Oh when will you get to read about the six races in the game?  Probably when I have some images to tack in with them.  After all a picture is worth a thousand words...and I know you need not reed a thousand words from me in just one post.

Well that is all, I am going to get back to my thinking and games.  And I do suggest people take a look at Travian and Evony.  They are fun, you just have to be patient when you play them.  They can take a bit really to do anything.  Just hope you do not get parked next to me...to close is a bad thing and I will take you out.