It seems Louis Porter Jr. has started up his RPG Publishing Gauntlet again! His podcasts are frankly what got me off my duff and inspired to me to start PDF publishing in the first place. (As I mentioned in my first Podcast.) It’s great to see the series return. It’s also nice to be mentioned by name in the Podcast and to have some very nice things said about your company, with your latest product given a mention as well! Made my night.

Our first Adventure Block; Worm in the Earth, got a bad review from a customer. That’s the second bad review of the product. (The first was in Wyvern Magazine.) so I de-activated it. It was our first Adventure Block, but it was never really big enough to warrant it’s own PDF. So I took it down, and I plan to use it along with many more of the same type and put together a collection of encounters themed around “Underground Hazards”. (That way I can still use the awesome artwork Anthony did for the cover!) That will make for a longer PDF with more usable content, and I’ll continue the line with other themed Adventure Block PDF’s.

Several of our reviews have noted that some of the images in the final PDF’s have been slightly pixelated. That was driving me nuts, so I dug in and figured out what the problem is. It’s a Photoshop flaw that does not allow images over 1mb to be copy-pasted into InDesign. On PDF’s where the image is less than 1mb it works fine, but anything over that and it will not paste. So I was lowering the resoultion to overcome that limitation; and that’s why the images didn’t look good. I fixed the Scion of Masada and the Dept. 7 Firearms Training Academy last night; and I’ll do the Cold Bringer later today. Now that I know the problem and found an appropriate work-around there shouldn’t be any future issues.

Just putting the finishing touches on our latest release: The Dept. 7 Firearms Training Academy. This release includes twenty new gun-related feats as well as a mini five-level advanced class for new Dept. 7 agents to get a crash course in Gun-FU!

I just need to finish up the Publisher audio Commentary and it will be ready to hit the street. The Flash Flip-Book Demo can be found HERE.

To hear a Publisher Audio Commentary about this product, click on the player below.

Listen Now:

 Standard Podcast: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Future Projects.

We have some very exciting things coming down the pike!

D20 Modern Campaign #1: No magic, just lots of guns!  This one is a straight Modern campaign dealing with terrorism, polotics, WMD’s and technology. I envision this one playing out more like the War of the Burning Sky campaingn; with each adventure-sourcebook expanding the setting and moving the timeline foreward.

D20 Modern Campaign Setting #2: Magic and Modern melded in a very unique way.  I’m very excited about this project, but it is also still in the planning phase.  I hope to have a pre-view for Gen Con this year.

I also have a couple of more D20 Modern Advanced Classes, Adventurer Essentials,  Fantasy stuff and Adventure Blocks.

I also want to do actual print products for distribution; but it’s too early for that.  In time…patience.  I plan to do a compilation of much of our Modern stuff into a “Dept. 7 Agent Field Manual” type book.  Mega-Feats could also rate its own book.

I finished up the Grendel Spawn D7ACU yesterday.  I also recorded the Publisher Audio Commentary so I’ll be releasing it to all the usual places this afternoon.

As I mentioned before, we moved our regular Halo II night from Thursdays to Tuesdays, and today they are switching up the play lists on XBox Live.  Looking forward to the mayhem.  One of my best friends growing up just got a 360 and joined us last week for the first time.  I haven’t really spoken to him since he moved out West, so it’s good to get back together.

Anthony has his first Stock Art product up over on RPGNow.  I think he’s gonna do well.

I finished up the layout and the Publisher Audio Commentary yesterday.

Listen Now:

 Standard Podcast: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Sorry for the lack of updates…its been kinda crazy around here.

First: The VA Tech shooting.  I am a couple of hours away from there.  I don’t know anyone involved, but there are plenty of Tech graduates where I work. The previous post was really about my role as a firearms instructor and my belief that self defense is as much a right as free speech or freedom of religion.  And since it’s my blog, I am free to post stuff like that!  But I do try to keep non-gaming related stuff to a minimum.

Second: Anthony has signed up a vendor account on RPGNow to start selling publisher stock-art.  Good news for all you publishers out there, as you will have access to his excellent quality artwork!  Bad news for me cuz I will no longer have “first dibs” on his work.

Third: This month has been light on new releases.  I’ve been really busy with life, and what with my recent car troubles and my Uncle Sam and his little brother FICA needing me to write them a large check this month things have been tight.  (Thanks to all my business write-offs it was a smaller check than it could have been!) We do have a couple of things ready to go; I’m just finishing up the layout.  I want to get all caught up with my artist and writers before I over-extend.

Fourth: We have some big stuff happening in the near future.  I have some plans for a new campaign setting I am very excited about.  Chris Field, the author of many of our D7ACU PDF’s, is starting his own imprint which will be published under the Skortched Urf’ Studios banner.  I’ve seen the manuscript for his first draft of a release called “Black Tokyo”. Look for some very interesting stuff in the months to come.

Fifth: Dungeon & Dragon magazine are no more!  I just read the press release today. I am sad to see an icon of my gaming youth go away, but I also realize that digital is the way to go and since this move may turn out well for the PDF industry I can’t be too sad.  Time will tell.

More updates soon!

I wish I had written this piece myself.

But since I didn’t, I’ll let the munchkin wrangler say it for me:

Here are my two cents on the atrocity in Blacksburg, Virginia.

I am already dreading the sound bites coming from both the right and the left in response to what the press salaciously describes as “the worst mass shooting in United States history.”

Yes, you read right…I know I won’t care for the left’s instant condemnation of our “loose weapons laws” (the Brady Crowd already put out a press release to that effect), but I’m also not totally in love with the gun crowd howling about how Virginia Tech has “blood on their hands” because they disallow otherwise legal VA CCW holders from toting on campus. This statement may ruffle some feathers, but every CCW holder on that campus who didn’t carry a weapon did so by choice. There may have been some who did have a valid license to carry, but they weighed the risk of expulsion against the risk of being caught defenseless, and they made their choice. There’s no malice or moral judgment in that statement. It doesn’t assign blame to the victims or take it away from the killer–it’s merely a statement of fact.

Here’s one thing that both pro-and anti-gun folks can agree upon: making guns illegal in any given location does not stop shootings in that location. The notion that someone with murder on his mind will obey proscriptions against the carrying of firearms is ludicrous, whether you’re talking about a college campus, a shopping mall, a city, or even an entire country. The only people obeying gun bans are the people you don’t have to worry about–the law-abiding folks. If you declare a location a “gun-free zone”, you basically hang out a gigantic invitation for anyone willing to disobey the decree. What you create is not a safe zone, but a safe work environment for criminals and killers, because they can now be assured of unarmed victims.

Now, the Dems and their assorted hoplophobic entourage will draw precisely the wrong conclusions from the shooting in Blacksburg. They’ll say that the weapons ban on campus was a correct and necessary measure, but that the problem lies with gun laws in general. There are too many guns out there, they’re too easy to obtain, and blah blah blah.

Assume for a moment that they are correct, and that there are far too many weapons out there in the wrong hands. The problem here is that you simply cannot stuff the genie back into the bottle, and you cannot un-invent technology. Places like New York City, Washington, D.C., and Chicago still have substantial gun crime despite their draconian local gun bans. The folks who support the gun bans in those locations will tell you that this is the fault of the loose gun laws of surrounding states, making it easy for criminals to get guns somewhere else and bring them into the gun-free utopias. Give us a strict nationwide ban on handguns, they say, and the problem will disappear. They completely disregard the fact that there are already a hundred million functioning firearms out there in private hands, and that confiscating all those weapons would be a logistical and technical impossibility even if the police measures necessary for the enforcement of a total gun prohibition wouldn’t obliterate the Bill of Rights. Think of the Prohibition: all the might of the government at all levels couldn’t suppress the smuggling and consumption of booze, and a case of whiskey is far more difficult to smuggle and hide than a handgun. Let them argue all they want, for or against more gun control, but the simple fact remains that the nation (and indeed the world) is awash in firearms, and that no amount of wishing or legislating can make those guns disappear.

There will be a heated and emotional discussion about the ramifications of the Virginia Tech massacre in the next weeks and months. It will take place in the media, in Congress, and on the expanses of the Internet, and in the end we may either get some sensible legislation that eliminates Victim Disarmament Zones, or a new and far-reaching federal gun law that aims to “stop the carnage” by disarming all the folks who didn’t shoot anybody today. (My money is on the latter.)

However, in the end it will not matter one bit. The only thing that ought to matter to anyone, whether they love or hate guns, is the knowledge that in the end it’s a matter of personal responsibility. The question you need to ask yourself is this:

Do I trust others to keep me safe, or do I shoulder that responsibility myself?

No law ever passed has ever had the power to put a gun into your belt, or to remove it from there. You alone choose to carry a weapon, or to not carry one. One day, some nutcase with murderous intent may come calling at your place of study or employment or recreation. Then you will be faced with the consequences of your decision, and all the laws and judges and police officers in the world will be inconsequential at that particular moment.

You alone have to make that call every day of your life, and you alone will face the consequences if that day ever comes. And regardless of your stance on guns or your personal decision in that matter, there will be consequences. Trust the law and the police to protect you, and you may find yourself cowering under a desk and waiting for your turn. Trust your skill with the gun on your hip to protect you, and you may find yourself expelled from school, charged with illegal carry, sued into bankruptcy, or dead anyway.

The choice is yours, and I won’t belittle you regardless of the path you choose to tread. Just make sure you can accept the possible consequences of your choice with a clear conscience.

Daniel Perez over at Highmoon Media, has been kind enough to point out several flaws in our Scion of Masada product. (As well as some flaws in my pronunciation!) He’s Jewish and Orthodox, so was a big fan of the class as soon as it came out, and offered to fix a few minor things with the class that, while very “cool” as part of the first concept, were not in line with Orthodox Jewish belief. I have the new, revised draft in hand and will be making the changes today and hope to have the new version out tomorrow. (As well as re-recording the Publisher Audio Commentary.) I think the changes make a very cool concept even better. Daniel has never been shy about sharing his favorable opinion of our work, and to step up and offer to help make this product the best it can be, while refusing my offer to pay him for his time and effort, deserves much praise and recognition. So, to the three of you who read this blog; head on over to Highmoon Media and buy something from Daniel cuz that’s what I’m gonna do right now!

 UPDATE: I just finished the Publisher Audio Commenatry.  Click on the player at the bottom of this post to listen to it.  I’ll be posting the file to all the usual places tonight before I go to bed.

I finished the layout of the Scion of Masada D7ACU, and created the PDF along with the Flash Flip-Book Demo. Demo HERE. I still need to do the Publisher Audio Commentary, so look for that to be done tomorrow.

I have been noticing LPJ’s NeoExodus campaign come together, and it is getting me pretty excited about a new campaign setting idea I have as well. I started putting some notes down today about it.

Listen Now:

 D7ACU: Scion of Masada: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

I picked up my new (used) car on Saturday.  Spent three hours today running to the DMV to get tags and registration.  I got it all squared away, except I need to get the emissions inspection done.  Apparently you need to get it re-done based on the new county.  (The guy I got it from lives in a different county.)  Since I have to go back to the DMV I might spring for a vanity plate.  Not sure what; I know “Skortched Urf’ Studios” won’t fit!

I got the AE: Waterskin manuscript back.  I’ll send that, along with a couple of other manuscripts over to Anthony for artwork.  I did quite a bit of work tonight on the D7ACU: Scion of Masada PDF.  It just needs a little bit of editing, the flip-book demo and the Publisher Audio Commentary done.  Will try to get it out tomorow night, but it may roll over to Wednesday since I have fencing class after work, and then Halo night!  (Which I missed last week due to my car problems!)

Easter was fun.  Spent it over at the in-laws.  Much food, kids running amok, more food; what’s not to like?  I actually busted out some figures to paint after we got back.  I’m working on my Khador figures for WARMACHINE.  I also have a Menoth faction, but the Khador army has less actual figures so I am focusing on that one first.  I want to get them painted for GenCon.  I picked up the Prime: Remix book tonight along with the new White Dwarf.  Games Workshop has done a great job on the new Harlequin models; it’s almost enough to make me want to play panzy Eldar!